Colombo Wolvendaal Church | AmazingLanka.com

RATE THIS LOCATION : 1 Star

(2 votes, average: 3.00 out of 5)

The bustling commercial city of Pettah in the middle of Colombo hides some of the best architectural buildings of the Dutch and British eras. The Wolvendaal Church is one such building of the Dutch in the heart of Colombo. The church is known as Adirippu Palliya in Sinhalese.

The inscription on a stone in the outer wall of the Church indicates the year 1749. Additionally, the initial letters I. V. S. V. G. on one of the side gables link the structure to Governor Julius Valentyn Stein van Gollenesse, who held office from May 11, 1743, to March 6, 1751. However, contrary evidence from other records establishes that the church did not open for public worship until a later date, specifically in 1757. Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that 1749 represents the year when the foundation stone for the building was laid. (JDBUC, 1908)

Constructed in the Doric style of the era, the church takes the shape of a Greek cross, featuring legs of equal length. Its walls, nearly 1.5 meters (five feet) thick, are crafted from exceptionally large kabok (clay ironstone) with coral and lime plaster. The central portion of the building boasts a high roof resembling a dome, initially arched with brick and covered in blue Bangor slate roof tiles, crowned by a brazen lion. This regal lion, adorned with a crown on its head, holds a sword in one hand and seven arrows in the other, symbolizing the seven united provinces of the Dutch Republic. Unfortunately, in 1856, a lightning bolt struck, destroying the lion and causing substantial damage to the dome. Subsequently, the roof was replaced with an iron covering. Notably, the church has a seating capacity for 1,000 individuals. (JDBUC, 1908)

From the date of its construction to the end of Dutch rule on the island, Wolvendaal Church was the primary place of worship for the city. The old Portuguese church in Fort, with its crypts and vaults, continued to be used only as the burial place of the Christian officials. In 1813 all the burials at the old Portuguese church were moved to the Wolvendaal Church by the British due to the dilapidated state of the old church. These gravestones with sculptured armorial bearings now pave the floor of the church (JDBUC, 1908)

Many famous names from 300 years of Sri Lankan history: Dutch, Burgher, Sinhalese, Tamil and English can be found among the gravestones within and outside the church. There are five Dutch Governors buried at the church, including the last Governor, Johan Gerard van Angelbeek, who died in Colombo in 1799, three years after the British occupation.

Some of the older gravestones had no traces of any remains found beneath them and were left ‘outside the church. After remaining’ there for nearly a hundred years they were removed .to the southeast corner of the churchyard and erected against the outside wall there.

During the Portuguese era, they had erected a church called Our Lady of Guadalupe on this hill. In Singhalse mouth, it became Adirippu (palliya). The Dutch corrupted Guadalupe into ‘Agadalapa,’ (Valentyn); ‘Acqua di Lupo,’ (Saar): ‘Quia de Lupo‘ and ‘Agoa de Lubo,’ (Baldeus); and finally, they translated it into ‘Wolfendhal‘ (Wolvendaal) (Queyroz,1992).

The Dutch imagined that the name ‘Agoa-de-Lubo‘ meant ‘Marsh of Wolves’ and it is this meaning which got translated to Wolvendaal meaning ‘dale of the wolves‘ (Perera, 1962). Even with no wolves in the country the Marsh of the Wolfs, Wolvendaal is the name still used for this area.

History of Wolvendaal

Sinhalese called the Wolvendaal Hill the Boralugoda Hill. Prince Tikiri of Sitawaka (later King Rajasinghe I) and his father King Mayadunne attacked Colombo to to expel the Portuguese and bring Kotte under the control of the Sitawaka kingdom. The siege took place between 1579-1581 when the Sitawaka army crossed the Kelani Ganga River by two improvised bridges and encamped at Boralugoda (Wolvendaal) and fortified itself strongly to attack the bastion of St. Thomas which faced that quarter. However after Rajasinhe managed to drain the waters of Beira Lake which stood between his army and the fort, the attack was unsuccessful (Perera,1943).

The next siege of Colombo by King Rajasinghe was between 1587-1588 (Perera,1943). Based on the narrations on Rajavaliya, Wickramasinghe Mudali set camp and stockade at Lower Boralugoda which is now called Santhum Pitiya and Senerat Mudali set camp at the plains of Boralugoda. At to top of Boralugoda Hill stood the Adiriuppu Palliya (Gunasekara, 1900).

The Dutch had sieged most of the coastal cities from the Portuguese and laid siege on the Fort of Colombo of the Portuguese. on the 21st of October 1655. Wolvendaal Hill again proved to be a strategic military point to the enemy with a clear view of the area. The Dutch laid camp on the hills of Wolvendaal, Hulftsdorp, and San Sebastian. The first assault of the Dutch was a total disaster for them but after a 7-month siege, the Portuguese Fort of Colombo surrendered to the Dutch forces on the 10^th of May 1656 (Anthonisz, 1929).

The same hilltops of Wolvendaal and Hulftsdorp played a key role in the surrender of Dutch forces in the fort for the British 140 years later. After the British forces surrendered Colombo. The British forces were occupying Mutwal, Korteboam, Wolvendaal and Hulftsdorp by 14th February 1796 and sent a letter to the Dutch demanding surrender or face the cannons. Only after 2 days, on the 15th of February 1796, the Dutch surrendered to the British without a single shot being fired. (Thomas,1982)

References

‘WOLVENDAAL CHURCH’ (1908) Journal of the Dutch Burgher Union of Ceylon, 1(3), pp. 115–120.
Perera, S.G. (1943) A History of Ceylon for Schools: the Portuguese and Dutch Periods 1505-1796. Revised Edition. Colombo, Sri Lanka: The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
Gunasekara, B. (1900). The Rajavaliya or A Historical Narrative of Sinhalese Kings from Vijaya to Vimala Dharma Suriya II. 1st ed. Colombo: GEORGE J. A, SKEEN.
Queyroz, F. de (1992) The Temporal and Spiritual Conquest of Ceylon (vol 2) S G Perera (3 vols). (AES Reprint). Translated by S.G. Perera. New Delhi, India: Asian Educational Services.
Perera, S.G. (1962) Historical Sketches (Ceylon Church History) . Colombo, Sri Lanka: The Catholic Book Depot.
Anthonisz, R.G. (1929) The Dutch in Ceylon: an Account of Their Early Visits to the Island, Their Conquests, and Their Rule Over the Maritime Regions During a Century and a Half. : VOLUME I. Early Visits and Settlement in the Island. Colombo, Ceylon : C.A.C. Press.
Thomas, P.C. (1982) ‘Governor Van Angelbeek and the Capitulation of the Dutch Settlements in Ceylon to the British-1796’, Journal of the Sri Lanka Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, New Series XXIV(1978–79), pp. 20–48.

Also See

Map of Colombo Wolvendaal Church

Please click on the button below to load the Dynamic Google Map (ගූගල් සිතියම් පහලින්)

Show Location (ගූගල් සිතියම)

The map above also shows other places of interest within a approximately 20 km radius of the current site. Click on any of the markers and the info box to take you to information of these sites

Zoom out the map to see more surrounding locations using the mouse scroll wheel or map controls.