Colombo's culture sits in layers: Geoffrey Bawa's tropical modernism above Dutch colonnades, a national museum holding the last king's throne, and a contemporary art scene that emerged loudly after 2009. Three days of galleries, kovils and live Kandyan dance.
The architect's own townhouse, four 1960s bungalows stitched into one light-well labyrinth. Guided tours only, booked ahead via the Geoffrey Bawa Trust — daily 10:00 and 14:00, plus 17:00. Left exactly as Bawa lived in it until 2003.
The anchor of Sri Lanka's contemporary scene, showing Pala Pothupitiye's altered colonial maps, Firi Rahman's ink work and Anoli Perera. Free entry, open Monday–Saturday roughly 10:00–18:00, closed Sunday. Occupies a converted house on Horton Place.
Bawa's former Colombo office, converted by Shanth Fernando into a courtyard café and design gallery. The rear rooms hang rotating photography and painting; the black-and-white palette and frangipani courtyard are the reason architects detour here.
The 1749 Dutch Reformed church on a hill above Pettah, laid out as a Greek cross with metre-thick walls. Inside, carved ebony pews and floor slabs bearing the tombstones of Dutch governors moved here from the demolished fort church.
The 1877 Italianate building holds the throne and crown of Sri Wickrama Rajasinha, last king of Kandy, returned from Windsor in 1934. Also 9th-century bronzes, Sigiriya frescoe replicas and demon masks. Open daily 09:00–17:00, ticket desk closes 16:30.
The 17th-century residence of Thomas van Rhee, Dutch governor, later a hospital and post office. Colonnaded courtyard, VOC furniture, gravestones and coins. Small, quiet and often nearly empty — a strange calm in the middle of Pettah's noise.
Colombo's oldest Hindu temple, founded in the 1850s, its gopuram crowded with painted deities on Sea Street among the goldsmiths. Shoes off, shoulders covered. Puja happens several times daily with bell and nadaswaram — the sound carries down the street.
The national performing arts centre, shaped after the lotus pond at Polonnaruwa, seating 1,288. Programme runs Kandyan dance, Sinhala drama, orchestral concerts and Bharatanatyam recitals. Check the board at the box office for the week's schedule.
Barbara Sansoni's handloom empire wraps a courtyard gallery and bookshop stacked with Sri Lankan history and fiction. Rotating shows of local painters and photographers; jazz plays in the garden on Sunday afternoons from around 11:00.
The 1908 candy-striped mosque in red and white brick, designed by Habibu Lebbe Saibo, who reportedly had no formal training. Non-Muslim visitors are usually welcomed outside prayer times; women should cover head and arms.
Bawa's 1976 meditation pavilion floating on Beira Lake, three timber-and-blue-tile platforms linked by walkways, built after the original sank. Rows of Buddha figures face the water. Managed by Gangaramaya but architecturally its own thing entirely.
The neighbourhood named for the Kaffir slaves the Dutch held here, now Malay-Muslim, with tin-roofed shophouses, the 1863 Java Lane mosque and pockets of demolition where towers rise. Sri Lanka's Malay community keeps its own cuisine and language here.