Originally a fort during the Portuguese and Dutch periods but now simply the commercial center of the country and the site of most major offices, big hotels, some of the better shops, airline offices, banks, main post office, immigration office, travel agents and restaurants. Within Fort are several places of tourist interest which can be conveniently seen on foot.
National Museum
National Museum of Sri Lanka was established in 1877 during the time of the British Governor Sir William Gregory. It has a good collection of ancient royal regalia, Sinhalse artwork (sculpturs, carvings and so on), anitque furniture and china,ola manuscripts.
Cinnamon Gardens
Cinnamon Gardens is Colombo's ritziest address, full of overgrown residences and embassies. A century ago it was covered in cinnamon plantations. Today, as well as elegant tree-lined streets and the posh mansions of the wealthy and powerful, it contains the city's biggest park, several sports grounds and a cluster of museums and galleries.
Buddhist Temples
Most of the colombo's Buddhist temples date from the late 19th-century Buddhist Revival is a place hallowed by the visit of the Buddha.The most important Buddhist centre is the Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara is only seven miles to the north east of the Colombo and It is famous for its unique wall paintings reproduced in many tourist brochures. Vajiraramaya, in Bambalapitiya is an important and popular Buddhist temple. Gangaramaya near the Beira Lake is another beautiful temple in the City.
Dehiwala Zoo
By the standard of the developing world, the zoo, 10km south of Fort, treats its animals well though the big cats and monkeys are still rather squalidly housed. You wonder what they had have to say about zoo in Dhaka. The major attraction is the elephant show at 5:15pm, when elephant troops on stage in ture trunk-to-tail fashion and perform a series of feats elephantine agility. The zoo had a wide collection of other creatures, including a fine range of birds and an aquarium. There is a charge for bringing camera.
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