Trincomalee

A historic east-coast port city set on one of the world's finest natural harbours, ringed by golden beaches and crowned by the clifftop Koneswaram Temple.

Overview

Trincomalee is the main city of Sri Lanka's east coast, wrapped around a vast deep-water harbour that has drawn traders and navies for centuries. The town blends Tamil, Muslim and Sinhalese communities around bustling markets, colonial forts and a headland temple perched high above the Indian Ocean. Nearby beaches at Uppuveli and Nilaveli offer warm, calm swimming for much of the year, while boat trips run out to snorkel reefs and, in season, to watch blue whales offshore. Its dry-zone climate keeps it sunny while the west coast is under monsoon.

History

Trincomalee's harbour made it a coveted prize: the Portuguese, Dutch, French and British all fought over it, and the British used it as a key naval base into the Second World War, when it was bombed by the Japanese in 1942. The headland's Koneswaram Temple was a celebrated Hindu shrine razed by the Portuguese in 1624, its fort built from the temple's stones and later renamed Fort Frederick under the British.