Galle Lighthouse
The first lighthouse of Sri Lanka was built by Mr Alexander Gordon, a Chartered Engineer of the Board of Trade in 1848, on the South Bastion of the Galle Fort and at the head of Lighthouse Street. The tower was 80 feet high and made of circular white iron. Its main light was an oil-lit Argand Lamp placed in the focal centre of mirrors, and its characteristic was group flash (2) every 30 seconds. The lighthouse was renewed in 1890 and electrified in 1933, with six 100-watt Electric lamps replacing the original Argand lamp. However, in 1936, the lighthouse caught fire, and a new lighthouse was constructed in 1939 on the Utrecht Bastion, overlooking the seaward channel into the Galle Harbour. The new lighthouse was constructed by the British Government Factory and had a Dioptric apparatus of the 4th order revolving on a Mercury floated pedestal. The light was two 500-watt electric lamps with a characteristic of Group flash (2) every 15 seconds and visible for 15 miles. The lighthouse was...
