Delft Island Fort | |
Location: | Neduntheevu, Sri Lanka |
Map Type: | Sri Lanka Northern Province |
Map Size: | 300 |
Type: | Defence fort |
Builder: | Portuguese |
Materials: | Limestone and coral |
Condition: | Ruins |
Delft Island Fort (Tamil: நெடுந்தீவுக் கோட்டை|translit=Neṭuntīvuk Kōṭṭai; Sinhala; Sinhalese: ඩෙල්ෆ් බලකොටුව |translit=Delf Balakotuwa, locally known as Neduntheevu fort and Meekaman fort) are ruins of a fort located on the island of Neduntheevu in the Palk Strait in northern Sri Lanka.
Traditionally attributed to the Karaiyar king Meekaman, the fort was probably built by the Portuguese.[1] [2] Later, it was taken over by Dutch, who built a barrack nearby. The island was known to the Portuguese as Ilha das Vacas ("Island of the Cows"), was renamed by the Dutch as Delft Island.[3] [4]
The fort was constructed out of limestone and coral. Though now in ruins, Ralph Henry Bassett describes the fort as a "very strongly fortified fort" in his book Romantic Ceylon: Its History, Legend, and Story.[5]