Fort Hammenheil

Fort Hammenhiel
Jaffna Peninsula, Sri Lanka

Fort Hammenhiel seen from Karainagar
Fort Hammenhiel
Coordinates 9°42′42″N 79°50′53″E / 9.711696°N 79.848006°E / 9.711696; 79.848006
Type Defence fort
Site information
Controlled by Sri Lankan Navy
Condition Good
Site history
Built 1618
Built by Portuguese and Dutch
Materials Granite Stones and coral

Fort Hammenhiel (Sinhalese: හැමන්හිල් බලකොටුව; Tamil: அம்மன்னீல் கோட்டை) is a fort built around a small island between the islands of Kayts and Karaitivu of Jaffna Peninsula in Northern Sri Lanka. The Portuguese built this fort in the mid 17th century of quarried coral and named it Fortaleza Real (Fort Royal). The Dutch renamed it as Hammenhiel (Heel of the Ham) and it was rebuilt by them in 1680.[1] The prison has nine large dungeons to store gunpowder.

Notable inmates

In 1971 Rohana Wijeweera, founder leader of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, was detained in the fort after his arrest. It was later used to house other prisoners of the abortive 1971 JVP insurrection. Those detained included Upatissa Gamanayake, Lionel Bopage, Podi Athula (Victor Ivan), Loku Athula (N. Jayasinghe), Prof. Jayadeva Uyangoda and Mahinda Wijesekara (who was to later to become a minister).

Later use

Built to detain prisoners, it was used thereafter by the Sri Lanka Navy to detain sailors accused of wrongdoings. Now it has been transformed into a tourist hotel run by the Sri Lanka Navy.[2][3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Silva, WK and RK. "Dutch Forts of Sri Lanka"
  2. ↑ "Fort Hammenhiel".
  3. ↑ "Fort Hammenhiel".
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