Wolvendaal Church

Of the many legacies of Dutch rule in Ceylon, the 18th Century Wolvendaal Church in Colombo combines much of the symbolic—and symbiotic—iconography of church and state. Built in 1749 on marshland outside the then Colombo city walls, in what is now the bustling Colombo shopping center of Petah, this beautiful and historic Protestant church is one of the oldest still in regular use. With its Doric exterior in the form of a Greek cross, and its high domed roof originally surmounted by a gilded lion, the church embodies harmonious co-existence between its Singhalese, Tamil and Burgher congregations.