Old Town Hall

Description and is it worth a visit

The old building of the first municipality Colombo (Old Town Hall) is slightly lost among the shopping streets Pettah. You can find it on the magnificent architecture of the period of English rule. The building is dated 1865, and the first meeting of the local government council was held in January 1866. Also here were the judicial authorities. The Old Town Hall carried out its work on this site until 1928, instead it was built a New Town Hall (Town Hall), which operates to this day in the north-eastern part of Viharamadevim Park (Colombo 7, Cinnamon Gardens district).

To date, the building has a modest museum, and its exhibits are not in the best condition. On the first floor there are preserved steam engines, machines and old equipment, on the second – a couple of rooms with exhibits of that time, telling about the work of this institution. In one of the rooms, some real representatives of the municipality are even recreated in mannequins. Of interest are mahogany floorboards, unusual in the design of window sashes. Museum attendants for a modest fee (about 100-200 rupees, see currency of Sri Lanka) with obsessive persistence will guide you through the building and tell its story. This is not to say that this place should occupy one of the first places in your itinerary for sightseeing attractions in Colombo, but if you walk in the Pettah area, it is worth a look here.

Getting to know the sights of Colombo is much more interesting and informative with the help of guided tours, which can be purchased on one of the review sites.:

• Guided tours in Colombo on Trip.com (there are a lot of comedians, Russian maps work)
• Excursions to Colombo on GetYourGuide (many options, Russian maps do not work)
• Guided tours of Colombo on Sputnik8.com
• Excursions to Colombo on Tripster.ru
• Guided tours in Colombo on Tezeks.com