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Remains of the ancient fort
licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
Kayts is the largest island in the Jaffna Peninsula. The Portuguese fort in the island has been built with four circular bastions around 1629, with a shape of a horseshoe. This island played an important role during the Polonnaruwa Kingdom Era (1017-1236) and had a port called Urundai which was one of the primary commercial ports in the Northern Region of the country.
This was also called Urundai Fort in the old days.
The fort was buid to protect Jaffna Penisula from invading forces but soon became obsolete with the building of the Jaffna Fort. This was abandoned in 1651. The island was taken over by the Dutch in the 1600’s but made no attempt was made to restore it.
From the “Journel of the Duch Burger Union of Ceylon” of April 1940
Also See
Map of Kayts Island Fort
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 Remains of the Kayts Island Fort
Route 01 from Colombo to Jaffna | Route 02 from Colombo to Jaffna |
| Though : Kurunegala – Dambulla – Anuradhapura – Vavunia Distance :400 km Travel time : 7-8 hours Driving directions : see on google map | Through : Puttlam – Anuradhapura – Vavunia Distance : 400 km Travel time : 7-8 hours Driving Directions : see on google maps |
Route from Jaffna to Kayts Island Fort | |
| Distance :24 km Travel time : 30 mins Driving directions : see on google map |
