Dutch Period Museum

What?
The Dutch Period Museum is a 17th-century Dutch colonial building.

Where?
The Dutch Period Museum is located in Pettah, Colombo.

When?
Can be visited all year long, though check for renovations or closures.

A fascinating historical collection of Sri Lanka’s colonial legacy resides within the Dutch Period Museum that can be found in Colombo. The 17th-century Dutch colonial building in the Pettah district serves as home to this museum while also housing the former living quarters of the Dutch governor. The museum presents 3,000 artifacts from Dutch colonial times and displays furniture together with ceramics, coins, weaponry, and documents that showcase the history of Dutch colonial government in Sri Lanka’s coastal areas from 1658 to 1796.

The building showcases Dutch architecture with coral walls alongside high ceilings and houses a well and charming courtyard in its center. Through time the place worked as three different facilities, starting from an orphanage and evolving into a hospital and post office before becoming a public museum in 1982. The structure serves today as a monument to acknowledge Dutch historical presence and cultural traditions engraved in Sri Lankan history.