A 300 year-old governor’s manor houses the Dutch Period Museum. Looming about a locale easily ranked as one of the busiest places on earth and severely contrasting with its surroundings of modern shops selling everything from toys, to jewellery, footwear and what not, this two-storey house oozing centuries old Dutch architecture remains untouched by time.
It displays selected objects of the period through the commencement of Dutch occupation with the seizure of Portuguese settlements in Sri Lanka by the VOC on June 12, 1656 to the surrender of these regions to the British East India Company on February 14, 1795. Antiquities such as swords, clothing, porcelain, mediums of exchange, furniture, ancient maps and documentation of treats—all belonging to the Dutch period find their home within this abode.
Artefacts laid out within an artefact; the Museum is housed in the abode of the Dutch Governor (1692–1697) Thomas van Rhee and most of the structure remains same as when built three centuries ago. Its high risen roof, square courtyard decorating the centre of the house and large pillars announcing the entrance are distinct elements of 17th century Dutch architecture.