Dutch Reformed Church Archives

Phillipus Baldaeus:the Dutch Missionary who wrote of Ceylon– By Avishka Mario Senewiratne and Dr. Srilal Fernando Source:Island A recent reading of the life and works of the Dutch Minister, Rev. Phillipus Baldaeus reveals a man who fits the phrase “je ne sais quoi”, a quality that cannot be described or named easily. His Magnum Opus, “A True and Exact Description of the Most Celebrated East India Coasts of Malabar and Coromandel. As also the Great Island of Ceylon and the religion of the heathens.” Published in 1672, this work is the first of three great descriptions of Ceylon. The second one by the more famous Robert Knox deals with the interior of the island close to Kandy where he was incarcerated after being taken captive. A third book by Captain Ribeiro called Ceilao was an account of a soldier, of mainly the maritime areas under the Portuguese. Baldaeus served as a Minister of ...

Dutch legacy of Galle Fort- BY MAHIL WIJESINGHE The entrance to the Galle Fort by the harbour Source:Sundayobserver The Galle city is home to a population of around 100,000. Easily reached via the Southern Expressway, the A2 Highway or the coastal rail track, Galle is indeed a place worth a stop. A quick walk through the chip-stone laid busy streets, you will discover the rich history of the colonial period and the natural beauty of the seascape. The carved wooden memorial dedicated to a former Commander of Galle, Abraham Samland Galle’s major and oldest landmark is the massive Portuguese and Dutch Fort in which the central city is contained and its geographical location on world sea routes certainly made it an important port of call for centuries, between the Middle East and Orient. This is a ‘living’ fort unlike the one in Colombo which was torn down long ago, leaving ...