Sri Lanka · 17th century
Kayts Island Fort ranks #7,079 of 9,040 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #14 of the 15 mapped in Sri Lanka. Founded 1629, it is older than 28% of the atlas's dated landmarks, one of 710 atlas entries founded in the 17th century. 2 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. See how Sri Lanka compares in the castle statistics.
The Kayts Island Fort (Tamil: ஊர்காவற்றுறைக் கோட்டை, romanized: Ūrkāvaṟṟuṟaik Kōṭṭai; Sinhala: කයිට්ස් දූපත් බලකොටුව Kayits Dupath Balakotuwa) was built by the Portuguese in 1629 and was abandoned in 1651. In the late 1600s, Dutch controlled the fort when they took over the Kayts island. During the Dutch rule, it was not normal to undergo restoration like the former forts of Portugal.
The horseshoe shaped fort with four circular bastions was built to protect Jaffna Peninsula like other Portuguese forts in the peninsula. There was one of the primary commercial ports called “Urundai” beside the fort. Therefore, the fort was known as “Urundai Fort”. The Tamil word “Urundai” literally means sphere or round-shape.
Text adapted from “Kayts Island Fort” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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