Wales Park
Entering path at Wales Park
TypeGarden
LocationKandy, Sri Lanka
Coordinates7°17′24.9″N 80°38′14.5″E / 7.290250°N 80.637361°E / 7.290250; 80.637361 (Wales Park, Kandy)
Area2.0 hectares (4.9 acres)
Created1880
StatusOpen all year

The Royal Palace Park, also known as Wales Park, Wace Park or Rajawasala Park, is a small park on top a small hill in the heart of the city of Kandy, that overlooks the Kandy Lake and most of the city. Established by King Sri Vikrama Rajasinha of Sri Lanka it was renamed as Wales Park in honor of the Prince of Wales by the British.

The hill, where the park is currently situated, was known as Castle Hill by the British, as it was the site of the palace of Konappu Bandara, who ruled as Vimaladharmasuriya I of Kandy from 1590 to 1604.[1]

Herbert Wace, CMG (1851–1906), the Government Agent of the Central Province and acting Colonial Secretary,[2] arranged for this neglected site to be restored,[3] and a park be built there in 1880.[4]

In the park is a Japanese Type 4 15 cm howitzer which was captured by the British 14th Army in Burma during World War II and presented to the City of Kandy by Lord Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander – South East Asia Theatre.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Karunaratna, Nihal; Aramudala, Madhyama Saṃskr̥Tika (1999). Kandy, Past and Present, 1474-1998 A.D. Central Cultural Fund - Ministry of Religious and Cultural Affairs. p. 44. ISBN 9789556131215.
  2. ↑ "Herbert Wace (1851-1906)". GHGraham.org. 29 March 2014. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
  3. ↑ Cave, Henry W. (1908). The Book of Ceylon. Cassell and Company Ltd. p. 320.
  4. ↑ Seneviratna, Anuradha; De Silva, Nimal; Aramudala, Madhyama Saṃskr̥Tika (1999). World Heritage City of Kandy, Sri Lanka: Conservation and Development Plan. Central Cultural Fund - Ministry of Religious and Cultural Affairs. p. 73. ISBN 9789556131260.
  5. ↑ Tillekeratne, Chamintha (20 June 1999). "Only lovers bloom in this historic park". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
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