Point Pedro Fort in Jaffna | AmazingLanka.com

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A 1693 map of Portuguese fort at Point Pedro from the Dutch National Archives — A 1693 map of the Portuguese fort at Point Pedro from the Dutch National Archives (www.nationaalarchief.nl/)

Point Pedro lies 30 km northeast of Jaffna and has been used as a natural anchorage for ships from the ancient past. It is said to be the best natural harbor in the Jaffna peninsula. The name Point Pedro is a corruption of the Portuguese name “Punta das Pedras,” meaning “Rocky Point,” an identity descriptive of the natural features of the cape.

This fort has completely disappeared with no trace of it today. However, the Dutch plan of this fort shows a slightly concave rampart on the northern side. This would have been about 240 feet (73 meters) long and much wider than the other two walls. This side of the fort has no bastions or embrasures for guns. In fact, all the embrasures would have faced their guns to the side and towards the land. The other two walls are approximately 140 feet (43 meters) long. The fort has only one bastion on the southern side. It has four embrasures for guns (Nelson, 1984).

As generally believed, Point Pedro is not the most northern edge of Sri Lanka. The small triangular fort was built on the corals jutting out to the sea at Point Pedro around 1665 during the second Anglo-Dutch War by the Dutch VOC company.

Baldaeus (1672), a Dutch preacher, provided a brief description of this town, harbour and church in 1672. The area has been rich in cotton trees and was well known for its cotton harvest. According to him, a fort was built not so long ago during skirmishes with the British in this area. This area is called Paretiture in Tamil, which means “Cotton Harbor,” signifying the cotton harvesting in the area. The Church Paretiture was the largest and most stately-looking one in the whole of this province, according to Baldaeus. The harbor is safe for anchorage for 7-8 months, but when the Northern Monsoon sets in, this becomes a dangerous shoreline.

The large tamarind tree, which stood in front of the church where Baldaeus had preached, was a landmark of Point Padro that fell down during the cyclone in November 1952. The trunk of the tree was 42 feet (12.8 meters) in circumference and 65 feet (20 meters) tall.

On the 5th of September, 1760, a Danish missionary, Christian Frederick Schwarz of the S.P.C.K., visited Point Pedro for the purpose of seeing the tree under which the celebrated Baldaeus preached, and in 1906, a stone was set up beneath the tree commemorating this event:

Baldaeus’ Tree
1658
Visited by Schwarz
5th September, 1760.

However, whether this stone exists today is unknown.

No traces of this fort remain today. The exact location of this fort is also unknown. Based on the map of the fort, it can be seen this has been built on a triangular area jutting out to the sea off the coast of Point Pedro. The marker on the Google map below has been marked based on the satellite images of the coastline and the most possible location. The same point has been identified as the most potential place of this fort by Mr Chryshane Mendis in his master’s thesis, ‘Fortifications and the Landscape – A GIS Inventory and Mapping of Kandyan and Dutch Fortifications in Sri Lanka,’ based on the map details and satellite imagery.

Massive Tamarind Tree at Point Pedro where Baldaeus preached in the 17th century.
Source : A true and exact description of the most celebrated East-India coasts of Malabar and Coromandel and also of the Isle of Ceylon (1672)

References

Tennent, J., 1860. Ceylon: An Account of the Island – Physical, Historical, and Topographical with Notes of its Natural History, Antiquities, and Productions – Volume 2. 4th ed. London: LONGMAN, GTIEEN, LONGMAN, AND ROBERTS.
Baldaeus, P., 1672. ‘A true and exact description of the most celebrated East-India coasts of Malabar and Coromandel and also of the Isle of Ceylon. 1st ed. Amsterdam: Janssonius van Waasberge en van Someren.
Baldaeus ’Tree : Vanishing Landmarks Which Made Dutch History. (1953). Journal of the Dutch Burgher Union of Ceylon, 43(1), 51–52.
Mendis, C. (2020). Fortifications and the Landscape : a Gis Inventory and Mapping of Kandyan and Dutch Fortifications in Sri Lanka [Master’s thesis]. University of Amsterdam.

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Map of Point Pedro Fort in Jaffna

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Travel Directions to Point Pedro Fort in Jaffna

Jaffna can be reached through two principal routes. The most commonly used approach is via Elephant Pass, which has long served as the traditional gateway to the Jaffna Peninsula.

An alternative route reaches Jaffna from the direction of Pooneryn by crossing the Sangupiddy Bridge. This crossing follows what was historically the ancient route to the peninsula before the construction of modern highways. The route provides a connection between Jaffna and the Mannar region.

Route 01 from Colombo to Jaffna Through Kurunegala (Popular Route)	Route 02 from Colombo to Jaffna Through Puttalam and Pooneryn (Lesser Traveled Route)
Through : Kurunegala – Dambulla – Anuradhapura – Vavuniya Distance: 410 km Travel Time: 7-8 hours Driving Directions: see on Google Maps.	Through: Puttalam – Thantirimale – Mannar – Poonaryn Distance: 408 km Travel Time: 8 hours Driving Directions: see on Google Maps.

Route from Jaffna to Point Pedro Fort in Jaffna

Though : Point Perdo road
Distance :33 km
Travel time : 50 mins
Driving directions : see on Google map