Historic General Post Office Building

RATE THIS LOCATION : 1 Star

(2 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)

Historic General Post Office Building in Colombo. Cicra 1900

Immediately opposite the Queen’s House is the General Post Office. The colony is abreast of the times in its postal arrangements and in many instances offers advantages that the Old Country has not begun to provide, notably, a value-payable parcels post, while its postcard and newspaper rates are one-third lower than in Great Britain. The visitor will find the arrangements for his convenience satisfactory and complete. He will enter by the handsome flight of steps leading to a spacious hall floored with intaglia tiles. Here he will find the poste-restante counters as well as every other postal facility.
(G. F. Perera, 1925)

The Colombo General Post Office (GPO) is arguably the most majestic colonial building in Fort, Sri Lanka. Construction began in 1891, based on the designs of H.F. Tomalin, and the project was executed by the Public Works Department.

The heavy columns were cast by the renowned Walker, Sons & Co. Ltd., while all iron trusses and woodwork came from the government factory. The massive stones required for the stone-flying staircases were quarried in Panadura, while additional cut stone for staircases was obtained at Ruwanwella and Ratnapura, then transported by boat to the Colombo lake before being moved to the site.

The building was completed in July 1895 and ceremoniously opened by Sir Arthur Havelock, then governor of Ceylon. Interestingly, the governor initially used the new building as his official residence.

A memorial plaque on the building reads:

General Post Office Colombo 1895
Sir Arthur E. Havelock G.C.M.G. Governor
R.K. Macbride M.I.C.E. C.M.G. Director of Public Works
H.F. Tomalin F.R.I.B.A. Architect

Architectural Features

Standing two stories high, the GPO is a masterclass in neoclassical colonial architecture. The facade demonstrates strong bilateral symmetry, with a rhythmic repetition of bays and adherence to classical orders—Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian—for columns and pilasters.

Ground Floor: Defined by deeply recessed, arched doorways framed with rusticated stonework that has now been paing painted in white
Upper Floors: Tall rectangular windows with classical architraves and cornices, crowned with decorative pediments. Some open to tiny balconies with balustrades.
Entablature and Roofline: Above the pilasters runs a richly decorated entablature with friezes. The roofline is capped with a continuous balustrade of turned balusters, concealing the roof structure.

Historical Role

The GPO once operated around the clock without gates. This changed after the JVP uprising in 1971, when gates were installed and the building began to function more like a typical government office.

In 2000, amid the LTTE conflict, the post office had to vacate the premises due to security reasons after more than a century of service, and the building was taken over by presidential security forces.

Recognition and Later Years

On 21 January 2000, the GPO was officially declared an archaeologically protected monument. After the defeat of the LTTE in 2009, the building was renovated with the intention of being sold. However, strong opposition from postal workers prevented its sale and it currently remains unoccupied.

References

Kaluarachchi, S. (2004). කොළඹ පුරාණය (Ancient Colombo). Sooriya Publishers.
Cave, H. W. (1910). The Ceylon Government Railway: A Descriptive and Illustrated Guide (1st ed.). Cassell and Company, Limited.
Bingham, P. M. (1921). History of the Public Works Department, Ceylon, 1796 to 1913: Vol. I–III. H. R. Cottle, Government Printer of Ceylon.

Also See

Map of Historic General Post Office Building

Click on the button below to load the Dynamic Google Map

Show Location on Google Maps

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.