Monday, 6th October 2014
By Dasun Edirisinghe
An inner chamber of the Moon Bastion. Moon Bastion of the Galle Fort
The Ministry of National Heritage had launched a project to convert the 300-year-old Moon Bastion built by the Dutch at Galle Fort, which is a World UNESCO Heritage site, into an art gallery to showcase the history of Galle, Director General of Archaeology Dr Senarath Dissanayake said yesterday.
The Moon Bastion built by the Dutch in 1667 is considered one of the main bastions in the Fort and its conservation activities commenced in 2012.
Built by the Portuguese in 1620, the Galle Fort was fortified by the Dutch in 1667. There are three bastions within the Fort known then as Sao Lago (Sun Bastion), Middelpunt (Moon Bastion), and Zeepunt (Star Bastion). The British, who succeeded the Dutch, however, did not make use of the Moon Bastion.
Now the conservation activities of the Moon bastion had reached its final stage and the Galle Heritage Foundation and the Ministry of National Heritage had decided to convert it into a gallery to display statues, sculpture and art depicting persons and events that mattered in the past of the Galle city, Dr Dissanayake said.
He said the National Design Centre had been vested with the task of providing exhibits to the Moon Gallery. The cost of the project had been estimated at Rs. 6 mn. It would help attract more visitors and raise their awareness of the importance of the world heritage site.
In addition, plans were underway to build an information centre which would comprise a library section containing material on Galle history. The Ministry of National Heritage had allocated Rs 1.1 million for that purpose, Dr Dissanayake said.
From: The Island. http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=111585
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