Christ Church Galle Face

Christ Church, the main center of evangelical of worship in Colombo city for over a century, was built by the Church Missionary Society as an all-embracing ‘low church’ intended to be 'Evangelical in its worship, and musical in its setting’. Built in 1853 in Galle Face, in the heart of the city, it adjoined what is now Slave Island railway station, then a popular spot where people of all races and walks of life met to 'take the sea air'. The original church, later extended and rebuilt, was small and constructed with local materials, mainly kaboom, which deteriorated to such an extent that the west wall collapsed. Rebuilt on its old Gothic design in brick, it now features some beautiful stained glass, the East and Rose windows with their profusion of colours, a geometrical floor mosaic, and richly carved pews.