Old Parliament Building

Sri Lankan architectural historian Ismeth Raheem described the Old Parliament Building in Colombo city, an imposing monument to Sri Lanka’s imperial past, as a "masterpiece in stone". Built by the British to house Ceylon's Legislative Council, this striking neo-classical edifice is now occupied by the Presidential Secretariat and Executive President. With it colonnades and pediments, today the building is the venue for state functions and the presentation of credentials by incoming ambassadors and high commissioners. One of its most striking features is the use of rare brown granite from a quarry near Ruwanwella, 65km east of Colombo, which was transported in barges down the Kelani Ganga river and into the nearby Beira Lake via a specially built canal.