White facade
A unique style.
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An elegant white mosque inside the walls of Galle Fort, near the lighthouse and the sea rampart. Its facade blends Victorian and European Baroque styles with Islamic details, so at first glance it can look like a colonial-era church. The present two-storey building was put up in 1904, funded by the merchant Ahamed Haji Ismail. Its facade bears the words «Jami» and «Al-Khairat» in Arabic and the Hijri year 1325, and a prayer space is thought to have stood on the site before. The mosque reflects the long Muslim presence in Galle, a port that traded with the Arab world since antiquity, and Muslim families in the surrounding streets are still part of the fort's diverse community. Visits are free outside prayer times, in modest dress with a headscarf for women and shoes off. The best view is from the sea rampart at sunset, when its white facade glows beside the lighthouse.
A unique style.
On the facade.
At sunset.
Rampart Street, Galle Fort
The present building dates from 1904, and its facade shows the Hijri year 1325; an older prayer space is thought to have stood there before.
