The "modern" history of Galle starts in 1505, when the first Portuguese ship, under Lourenço de Almeida was driven there by a storm. However, the people of the city refused to let the Portuguese enter it, so the Portuguese took it by force. In 1640, the Portuguese had to surrender to the Dutch East India Company. The Dutch built the present Fort in the year 1663. They built a fortified wall, using solid granite, and built three bastions, known as "Sun", "Moon" and "Star". Preserved through the centuries so that it looks almost exactly the way it did during its period of Dutch colonization, Galle Fort stands as a testimonial to the fact that it's still possible in these modern times to find a place where the passage of time seems to have been put on slow mode. Uncluttered and untarnished by modernization, the Galle Fort serves as a true memorial to Galle city's rich and glorious past.

First-time visitors to the Galle Fort are certain to fall in love with and be enthralled by the walled city's romantic old-world atmosphere. Preserved through the years since the Dutch occupation, Galle is a showcase of the impressive intermingling of Dutch culture with South Asian tradition.

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