The European colonial administration, which began in the early 16th century, brought a new concept of defence cities to Ceylon and left their remnants in fortifications, mainly in the Maritime Provinces The most prominent of these is the Dutch Fort in Galle, Bastioned colonial fortifications comprise defence related facilities such as gunpowder magazines and dungeons concealed within ramparts. Abandoned during the post-independence period, they impacted negatively on the sociocultural, technological environmental and political spheres of residents of the Fort.