Trincomalee

The English hero, Lord Nelson, was a midshipman when he sailed into Trincomalee harbour aboard HMS Seahorse in 1775. He was so impressed that he described Trincomalee as "the finest harbour in the world",

Trincomalee is a magnificent natural harbour, whose beauty and strategic importance have always competed with each other for supremacy. Though ethnic disturbances in the recent past managed to isolate this harbour town, it lays claim lo an important position in the island because of its flamboyance and glory,

The town gains its beauty not only from the balanced blend between colonial and
post independence architecture but also from the lives of the people and their activities. Traveling along the narrow alleys of the city in to encounter a variety of activities in
this vibrant place. Traveling on land is an enriching experience of ferry rides that contributes to the variety and cosmopolitan aura the city offers.

Trincomalee attracted colonial naval powers due to its strategic location in the Indian Ocean. In 1624, the Portuguese built

a small fortress with three bastions at the foot of the Swami Rock where today Fort Frederick is found .The fortress stood there until the Portuguese were defeated by the Dutch in 1639. Fort Frederick (or Fort Trincomalee as the Dutch called it) was constructed by them in 1660. The Dutch were ousted by the British in 1782.The city slipped into the French hands in the same year but was soon recaptured by the British.

The origin of the name Trincomalee is much argued about with several differed schools of thought. One definite fact about the town at the time of its conquest by the Portuguese is that the summit of the famous Swami Rock bore an ancient temple
- the Temple of Thousand Pillars. This was destroyed in 1623 by the Portuguese, who used the pillars to build their fort at the foot of the Rock.

The British re-named the Dutch-built fort as Fort Frederick in 1803 after the Duke of York. With the occupation of the whole island secured by the British in 1815, they began to transform Trincomalee in to a city to host both civil and military life.