The Colombo Dutch Museum is a museum that covers the history of the Dutch colonial rule in Sri Lanka.
The building
The two storey colonnaded building on Prince Street, Pettah (Colombo 11) which houses this museum was constructed during the Dutch occupation of Colombo (1656 - 1796) and was the formal residence of the Governor of Dutch Ceylon Thomas van Rhee (1634 - 1701) during his term of office in 1692 to 1697. The building has been used for many different purposes over the years. It was a teacher training college and an institute for the instruction of clergymen between 1696 and 1796. At one time it was the residence of Colonel Count August Carl Fredrick Von Ranzow (1759 - 1844). It operated as an orphanage under the supervision of the deacons and financed by the Dutch East Indies Company. It was also used as a hospital. It became a barracks in the second half of the 1800s and in 1900 it was used as a police training school, set up by the British.
The museum while displaying the Dutch legacy with the artefacts including furniture, ceramics, coins and weaponry, portraying the various facets of contemporary life and culture.