Pooneryn Fort

Pooneryn fort
Part of Kilinochchi District
Pooneryn, Sri Lanka
Pooneryn fort
Pooneryn fort
Coordinates	9°30′12″N 80°12′44″E / 9.503370°N 80.212141°E / 9.503370; 80.212141
Type	Defence fort
Site information
Condition	Badly damaged
Site history
Built by	Portuguese and Dutch
Materials	Granite Stones and bricks

Pooneryn Fort (Tamil: பூநகரிக் கோட்டை, romanized: Pūnakarik Kōṭṭai; Sinhala: පූනරීන් බලකොටුව Punarin Balakotuwa) is located in Pooneryn, adjacent to the Jaffna Peninsula. It was built by the Portuguese to protect their possessions in Jaffna. The fort was captured by the Dutch in 1658, and subsequently by the British in 1796.^[1]

During Dutch possession, the square-shaped fort had two bastions. In 1805, British built a rest house at the fort. The fort was under the control of Sri Lankan Army and LTTE during the civil war but is now fully accessible to the public. The remains of the fort however are currently in a poor state of repair.^[2]

References[edit]

• Nelson, W. A.; de Silva, R. K. (2004). The Dutch Forts of Sri Lanka – The Military Monuments of Ceylon. Sri Lanka Netherlands Association.