The Mount Lavinia Hotel, in
Mount Lavinia
Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia ( si, දෙහිවල-ගල්කිස්ස, translit=Dehivala-Galkissa; ta, தெஹிவளை-கல்கிசை, translit=Tehivaḷai-Kalkicai), population 245,974 (2012) is the largest suburb of the City of ...
,
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
, is a 275-room hotel, situated at 100 Hotel Road in
Mount Lavinia
Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia ( si, දෙහිවල-ගල්කිස්ස, translit=Dehivala-Galkissa; ta, தெஹிவளை-கல்கிசை, translit=Tehivaḷai-Kalkicai), population 245,974 (2012) is the largest suburb of the City of ...
. It is recognised as one of the oldest and most famous hotels in the country. It has been continuously operating as a hotel since 1947, but was initially constructed as the Governor's residence in 1806.
Historical background
In 1805 Sir
Thomas Maitland was appointed as the second
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
of
British Ceylon
British Ceylon ( si, බ්රිතාන්ය ලංකාව, Britānya Laṃkāva; ta, பிரித்தானிய இலங்கை, Biritthāṉiya Ilaṅkai) was the British Crown colony of present-day Sri Lanka between ...
. He had acquired land at "Galkissa" (
Mount Lavinia
Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia ( si, දෙහිවල-ගල්කිස්ස, translit=Dehivala-Galkissa; ta, தெஹிவளை-கல்கிசை, translit=Tehivaḷai-Kalkicai), population 245,974 (2012) is the largest suburb of the City of ...
) and decided in 1806 to construct a personal residence there.
Legend has it that at a welcoming party held in his honour upon his arrival in the island he saw Lovina Aponsuwa, a local
mestizo
(; ; fem. ) is a term used for racial classification to refer to a person of mixed Ethnic groups in Europe, European and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous American ancestry. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also r ...
dancer, whose father was the headman of the dancing troupe. Maitland fell in love with Aponsuwa, who had been born to
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
and
Sinhalese
Sinhala may refer to:
* Something of or related to the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka
* Sinhalese people
* Sinhala language, one of the three official languages used in Sri Lanka
* Sinhala script, a writing system for the Sinhala language
** Sinha ...
parents. During construction, the governor arranged to build a secret tunnel between Aponsuwa's house which was located nearby, one end inside her house and the other inside his wine cellar, so that the lovers could meet in secret.
Sir James Mackintosh, a friend of the governor, wrote in 1810 that it was "a bungalow of one storey, rustic on the outside, but handsomely laid out, and furnished beautifully".
Sir Thomas Maitland was recalled from Ceylon in 1811 and appointed the
Governor of Malta
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...
, where he died a bachelor.
The statue of 'Lady' Lavinia, as the girl later became known, can be found in the middle of a water fountain at the entrance of the hotel.
The next governor, Sir
Robert Brownrigg
General Sir Robert Brownrigg, 1st Baronet, GCB (8 February 1758 – 27 April 1833) was an Irish-born British statesman and soldier. He brought the last part of Sri Lanka under British rule.
Early career
Brownrigg was commissioned as an e ...
recommended a further purchase of the surrounding land, from 14 landowners for 18,000 Rix dollars.
Sir
Edward Barnes during his second term as governor, undertook significant extensions and improvements to the building. "Barnes set to work on his grand plans. Mount Lavinia was to be his ultimate creation; a magnificent residence fit for the Grand Master, such as
Versailles
The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...
was to Louis XIV".
British military engineers redesigned the house on the lines of an Italian villa. Captain Edward Sanderson of the Royal Engineers, was the designer and master builder under Barnes’ watchful eye. The building was modelled on the ‘
Banqueting House
In English architecture, mainly from the Tudor period onwards, a banqueting house is a separate pavilion-like building reached through the gardens from the main residence, whose use is purely for entertaining, especially eating. Or it may be buil ...
’ in Whitehall, a creation of architect
Inigo Jones
Inigo Jones (; 15 July 1573 – 21 June 1652) was the first significant architect in England and Wales in the early modern period, and the first to employ Vitruvian rules of proportion and symmetry in his buildings.
As the most notable archit ...
, also known as the ‘English Palace’.
The Banqueting House was refurbished by architect Sir
John Soane
Sir John Soane (; né Soan; 10 September 1753 – 20 January 1837) was an English architect who specialised in the Neoclassical architecture, Neo-Classical style. The son of a bricklayer, he rose to the top of his profession, becoming professo ...
. "Not only does the date of the refacing of the Banqueting House coincide perfectly with the building of Mount Lavinia but a marked similarity in style is also apparent between the two buildings. Inigo Jones had used the Ionic and Corinthian orders, the height of urban sophistication. At Mount Lavinia, which offered a country setting, Sanderson used the simpler Doric order and superimposed the Ionic. This pattern had been used by
Palladio
Andrea Palladio ( ; ; 30 November 1508 – 19 August 1580) was an Italian Renaissance architect active in the Venetian Republic. Palladio, influenced by Roman and Greek architecture, primarily Vitruvius, is widely considered to be one of th ...
in building his
Palazzo Chiericati
The Palazzo Chiericati is a Renaissance palace in Vicenza (northern Italy), designed by Andrea Palladio.
History
Palladio was asked to design and build the palazzo by Count Girolamo Chiericati. The architect started building the palace in 1 ...
in
Vicenza
Vicenza ( , ; ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region at the northern base of the ''Monte Berico'', where it straddles the Bacchiglione River. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and east of Milan.
Vicenza is a th ...
, Italy."
The works were completed in 1830 however in 1831 Barnes was appointed as Commander in-Chief in
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. His successor Sir
Robert Wilmot-Horton
Sir Robert John Wilmot-Horton, 3rd Baronet, GCH, PC, FRS (21 December 1784 – 31 May 1841) was a British politician, sociopolitical theorist, and colonial administrator. He was Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies between 1821 a ...
chose not to reside at Mount Lavinia and it was therefore recommended that the building be disposed of. In 1842 the British government sold the building at auction, with Rev. Dr. John MacVicar, the Colonial Chaplain purchasing it. The mansion was subsequently converted into an
asylum for the insane.
In 1877 the government constructed a
railway line
Rail terminology is a form of technical terminology. The difference between the American term ''railroad'' and the international term ''railway'' (used by the International Union of Railways and English-speaking countries outside the United Sta ...
along the coast (the second railway line in Ceylon). The railway line passed in front of Mount Lavinia, connecting the house directly to the harbor at Colombo. Seeing the potential for profit, developers bought the dilapidated mansion and turned it into an opulent hotel, ''The Mount Lavinia Grand Hotel''. Later two additional wings were added to the building.
In 1927 the hotel was purchased by Arthur Ephraums, the owner of several other prestigious hotels, the Globe Hotel, the Bristol Hotel and the Whitehorse Hotel in Colombo, and was managed by Cargills & Co.
The following year he sold it to
C.H.Z. Fernando.
In 1939 following the commencement of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
Ceylon, the centre of the British Empire's rubber supply, quickly became a priority for the Allies and a target for the Axis forces. The Mount Lavinia Hotel was commandeered as a supply base and
military hospital
A military hospital is a hospital owned and operated by a military. They are often reserved for the use of military personnel and their dependents, but in some countries are made available to civilians as well. They may or may not be located on a ...
by the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
.
The hotel was sold in 1944 to Ceylon Hotels Corporation Ltd and later in 1948, the year in which Ceylon achieved Independence; the hotel was sold to H. J. Pilbrow and then sold again in 1955 to P. A. Ediriweera.
In 1957 a number of scenes in the film, ''
The Bridge on the River Kwai
''The Bridge on the River Kwai'' is a 1957 epic war film directed by David Lean and based on the 1952 novel written by Pierre Boulle. Although the film uses the historical setting of the construction of the Burma Railway in 1942–1943, the pl ...
'', were filmed at the hotel.
In 1975 U. K. Edmund purchased the hotel becoming the director and chairman of the hotel until his death in 1985, when the property then passed to his son, Sanath Ukwatte, who is the present chairman of the hotel group.
In January 2011 four
blue plaque
A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...
s were installed at the hotel's entrance, commemorating
Sir Thomas Maitland
Lieutenant General The Right Honourable Sir Thomas Maitland (10 March 1760 – 17 January 1824) was a British soldier and British colonial governor. He also served as a Member of Parliament for Haddington from 1790 to 1796, 1802–06 and 1812 ...
,
Sir
''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...
Robert Brownrigg
General Sir Robert Brownrigg, 1st Baronet, GCB (8 February 1758 – 27 April 1833) was an Irish-born British statesman and soldier. He brought the last part of Sri Lanka under British rule.
Early career
Brownrigg was commissioned as an e ...
,
Sir
''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...
Edward Paget
General Sir Edward Paget (3 November 1775 – 13 May 1849) was a British Army officer.
Career
Born the fourth son of Henry Paget, 1st Earl of Uxbridge, Edward Paget became a cornet in the 1st Regiment of Life Guards in 1792. He was Member o ...
and
Sir
''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...
Edward Barnes, all of whom resided in the building when it was the Governors residence.
Celebrity guests
Guests who have stayed at the hotel include
King Leopold of Belgium, cosmonaut
Yuri Gagarin
Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin; Gagarin's first name is sometimes transliterated as ''Yuriy'', ''Youri'', or ''Yury''. (9 March 1934 – 27 March 1968) was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut who became the first human to journey into outer space. Tr ...
, writer
Somerset Maugham
William Somerset Maugham ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, Maugham was schooled in England and went to a German un ...
, English film director
David Lean
Sir David Lean (25 March 190816 April 1991) was an English film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Widely considered one of the most important figures in British cinema, Lean directed the large-scale epics ''The Bridge on the River ...
, and actors
Vivien Leigh
Vivien Leigh ( ; 5 November 1913 – 8 July 1967; born Vivian Mary Hartley), styled as Lady Olivier after 1947, was a British actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress twice, for her definitive performances as Scarlett O'Hara in ''Gon ...
,
Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch; December 9, 1916 – February 5, 2020) was an American actor and filmmaker. After an impoverished childhood, he made his film debut in ''The Strange Love of Martha Ivers'' (1946) with Barbara Stanwyck. Do ...
and
Gregory Peck
Eldred Gregory Peck (April 5, 1916 – June 12, 2003) was an American actor and one of the most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1970s. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Peck the 12th-greatest male star of Classic Hollywood ...
.
See also
*
Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia
Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia ( si, දෙහිවල-ගල්කිස්ස, translit=Dehivala-Galkissa; ta, தெஹிவளை-கல்கிசை, translit=Tehivaḷai-Kalkicai), population 245,974 (2012) is the largest suburb of the City of ...
Literature
*
*
References
External links
Official WebsiteSri Lanka Hotels
{{Coord missing, Sri Lanka
British colonial architecture in Sri Lanka
Former official residences in Sri Lanka
Hotels in Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia
Houses in Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia
Heritage hotels in Sri Lanka