Martello Tower - Hanbantota, Sri Lanka - Martello Towers on Waymarking.com

Accordingly to the Wikipedia article associated with this category, this Martello Tower is the only ever built in Sri Lanka.

It is located withing a military (but very relaxed) military area and although it's often closed, once someone spots you around someone materializes with the key for a free visit.

From the Wikipedia article dedicated to this specific tower:
(visit link)

"The Martello Tower (Sinhala: ?????? ????? Matelo Kuluna) in Hambantota, is a small circular shaped fort, inspired by the Martello tower (a 15-century fort at Mortella (Myrtle) Point in Corsica that survived an attack by the British Royal Navy in 1794).

The tower was built between 1804 and 1806 to protect the harbour and settlement at Hambantota, following an unsuccessful attack by Kandyan insurgents in 1803. Construction of the tower is credited to a Captain Goper of the Engineers Corp (however no individual by that name appears in the British Army records). The commanding engineer in Ceylon at the time of the tower's construction was Captain Bridges, who was involved in the design of a similar Martello tower in Simon's Town near Cape Town, South Africa in 1796, which the tower in Hambantota closely resembles.

In September 1803 HMS Wilhelmina stopped briefly at Hambantota, where she dropped off an eight-man detachment from the Royal Artillery, who reinforced the British garrison there and later helped it repel a Kandian attack.

The Martello tower is 7.6 m (25 ft), with a base diameter of 12 m (39 ft) and 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in) thick walls. It has an unusual projecting rim around the parapet. Similar to English towers the entrance to the fort was through a doorway on the first floor but unlike others the Hambantota tower has a number of loopholes. The ground floor contained a storeroom and magazine. The tower's armaments included two 6-pounder-, three 3-pounder, and a number of 2 and 1-pounder guns. In 1813 a 5-1/2 inch howitzer replaced most of the small guns, and in 1814 two 18-pounder guns were added.

The tower was restored in 1999. In the past, the tower housed the Land Registry of the Hambantota Kachcheri. Today it houses a fisheries museum"

Another good source about this Martello Tower can be found here:
(visit link)

And still another one:
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Instructions for Visiting a Waymark: Take a photo of the tower and tell if you went inside to see the museum. ratings: Condition of Building: Converted to a museum Parking: Not Listed Location: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
To claim a find, you must submit a photo of the Martello tower, taken from a different angle to the one shown on the page. The photo should have the tower in full, with some of the surrounding landscape or buildings. If possible, you should also be in the photograph

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