Most visited Tourism Destinations places in Sri Lanka - Dondra - Head Lighthouse

 

                                Head Lighthouse

Dondra Head Lighthouse is a lighthouse located on Dondra Head, Dondra, the southernmost point in Sri Lanka and is Sri Lanka's tallest lighthouse, and also one of the tallest in South East Asia Dondra Head Lighthouse was designed by Sir James Nicholas Douglass, with construction, by William Douglass of the Imperial Lighthouse Service, commencing in November 1887. All the building materials including the bricks and steel were imported from England. The granite rock was supplied from quarries at Dalbeattie in Scotland and Penryn in Cornwall. The lighthouse was completed and commissioned in March 1890. The combined cost of erection of the lighthouse and the Barberyn Lighthouse was £30,000 and was paid for by dues collected at the Basses lighthouses

Dondra Head was one of a limited number of lighthouses that were designed to house the large Hyper radiant Fresnel lenses that became available at the end of the 19th century. Four of these lenses were used in Sri Lankan lights, all made by Chance Brothers in England.

The rotating lens however was removed in 2020 and replaced by a static flashing LED light which has reduced the visibility range of the lighthouse considerably

The lighthouse is 49 m (161 ft) high and contains 7 floors, 14 two panel yellow colour windows and 196 steps to the top. Dondra Head is also one of four international lighthouse in Sri Lanka.