(2 votes, average: 3.00 out of 5)
Loading...
The ancient survey tower of Kandawala in Negombo (කඳවල මිනුම් කුළුණ) used to lie in the middle of the road on a small patch of land where the Negombo Base Line road meets the Negombo – Katana road. The origins of this tower is somewhat not clear while the popular belief is that this tower is considered the oldest survey tower and was built during the Dutch occupation era, in 1796 by the Dutch for survey purposes.
The most known Survey Towers in the country were built by the British who were the first to make a serious attempt to map the whole country. This tower too is said to be built during the British colonial era in 1857 by Surveyor General Capt. Ghoset of Surveyor Department.
The has been 150 feet tall and square in shape. It has been built with 3 levels each level gradually reducing in circumference and maintaining the same squire pattern.
This building which was under the Department of Archaeology suddenly crumpled to the ground on 28th November 2015 due to lack of maintenance. The building fell damaging a maternity clinic on the junction and was a pile of rubble leaving nothing of the structure. Today all that is remaining is a bare patch of grass in the middle of the road where this majestic tower stood for 220 years.
Also See
Map of Kandawala Survey Tower in Negombo
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.
Traveling Directions to Kandawala Survey Tower in Negombo
| From Colombo to Kandawala Survey Tower in Negombo |
| Via : Airport Expressway Total distance : 43 km Duration : 1 hour Driving Directions : View on Google Maps |
0-09 m (80) 10-19 m (70) 20-29 m (42) 30-39 m (47) 40-49 m (23) 50-99 m (44) Ambalama (152) Ancient Anicuts (31) Ashtapala Bodhi (5) Attraction Article (3) Attractions (200) Beaches (7) Biosphere Reserves (3) Botanical Gardens (3) Bridges (34) Caving (7) Church (11) Cities (9) Destinations (16) Dethis Pala Bodhi (15) Devalaya (41) Flora and Fauna (44) Forts (49) Heritage (1605) Heritage Article (28) Historic Events (5) History (7) Hot Springs (9) Hydro Heritage (85) Irrigation Article (4) Islands (15) Kovil (25) Lighthouses (27) Memorials (28) Mile Posts (6) Mosque (3) Museums (8) National Parks (22) over 100 m (15) Pabbatha Vihara (10) Personalities (7) Pillar/Slab Inscriptions (35) Pre Historic Burial Sites (19) Prehistory (37) Ravana (12) Reservoirs (44) Ruins in Wilpattu (5) Ruins in Yala (24) Santuaries (7) Sluice Gates (11) Stone Bridges (18) Strict Nature Reserves (3) Survey Towers (13) Tampita Vihara (239) Travel (3) View Points (9) Walawwa (12) Waterfalls (375) Wildlife Article (24) Yathuru Pokuna (4)
Abhayagiri Monastery (19) Ampara District (191) Anuradhapura District (194) Badulla District (105) Batticaloa District (19) Colombo District (62) Galle District (58) Gampaha District (49) Hambantota District (99) Jaffna District (69) Kalutara District (47) Kandy District (177) Kegalle District (147) Kilinochchi District (11) Kingdom of Anuradhapura (80) Kingdom of Kandy (14) Kingdom of Polonnaruwa (55) Kurunegala District (149) Maha Vihara (14) Mannar District (47) Mannar Island (10) Matale District (72) Matara District (32) Mihintale (22) Monaragala District (72) Mullaitivu District (19) Nuwara Eliya District (109) Polonnaruwa District (107) Puttalam District (26) Ratnapura District (144) Trincomalee District (44) Vavuniya District (28) z Jaffna 1 (20) z Jaffna 2 (22) z Jaffna 3 (11)