//
Photo: Rehman Abubakr, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
The Portuguese built this fort in the 17th century and it has been substantially modified since. Much of the fort is visible outside of the ticketed areas. At sunset, locals like to hang out here, enjoy the sunset, eat ice cream and relax. There is not a whole lot to see inside the ticketed area so nobody would blame you if you don't want to pay the price to go in when you can wander through some of the tunnels and structures of the fort on the other side of the moat and outside the ticketed area.
Jaffna Fort is a fort built by the Portuguese at Jaffna, Sri Lanka, in 1618 under Phillippe de Oliveira following the Portuguese invasion of Jaffna. The fort is located near the coastal village of Gurunagar. Owing to numerous miracles attributed to the statue of the Virgin Mary in the church nearby, the fort was named as Fortress of Our Lady of Miracles of Jafanapatão. It was captured by the Dutch under Rijcklof van Goens in 1658, who expanded the structure. In 1795, it was taken over by the British, and remained under the control of a British garrison until 1948. As the only large military fort in the country, because of the presence of only government and military buildings within its ramparts, it was garrisoned by a detachment of the Ceylon Army.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
யாழ் பொது நூலகம்
This magnificent library, built in 1933, once housed the largest collection in Asia, with over 97,000 books and rare documents. It was burnt in 1981 by Sinhalese police and paramilitaries during a pogrom against the minority Tamil population. As a precursor to the Sri Lankan Civil War, the burning of Jaffna Library remains a controversial and traumatic issue among many in Jaffna. Restored and reopened, it now houses a much smaller collection. It is airconditioned so is a great place to hide from the heat, though much of the library is off limits to visitors.
A colourful, bustling market
A bustling market for locally-caught seafood
A small, easy-to-miss museum with a small collection of interesting local history.
பழைய பூங்கா
An interesting old ruin partly engulfed by trees. This British Governor's residence ("Kachcheri") from the 19th century was left in a state of ruin after the civil war, having been used by both Tamil Tiger and government forces.