The Kandy General Post Office ( si, මහනුවර ප්‍රධාන තැපැල් කාර්යාලය - ) is the main

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

Kandy Kandy ( si, මහනුවර ''Mahanuwara'', ; ta, கண்டி Kandy, ) is a major city in Sri Lanka located in the Central Province. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the midst of hills ...

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 ...

. The first post office was opened in Kandy in 1820, under the direction of the Postmaster General of Ceylon,

Louis Sansoni Louis Sansoni (c.1775 - 10 February 1831) served as the second Postmaster General of Ceylon, between 1816 and 1825. Louis Guiseppi Sansoni was born c.1775, the second son of Guiseppi (Joseph) Sansoni, the Italian commander of the trading ship ' ...

. The first mail coach service, between

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

and

, began operations in 1832.

History

On 1 July 1857 an overland telegraph line, connecting the

and the Kandy post offices, was opened. In September a submarine cable, connecting Ceylon with India, was laid between Thanaikai Point and Talamannar, with the line from Kandy to Manaar via

Mihintale Mihintale is a mountain peak near Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka. It is believed by Sri Lankans to be the site of a meeting between the Buddhist monk Mahinda and King Devanampiyatissa which inaugurated the presence of Buddhism in Sri Lanka. It is ...

finished in October. The current post office building, which originally housed the Railway Hotel, was constructed in 1867. The site was previously the location of the Bogambra Coffee Mill, operated by John Walker & Sons. In 1902 it was converted for use as the post office, following its acquisition by the government from the hotel's liquidators.

Present Day

On 8 July 2005 the post office building was gazetted as an Archeological Protected Monument. In June 2017 the United Postal Trade Union went on a three-day strike in order to stop the government's plans to sell the

Nuwara Eliya Nuwara Eliya ( si, නුවර එළිය ; ta, நுவரெலியா) is a city in the hill country of the Central Province, Sri Lanka. Its name means "city on the plain (table land)" or "city of light". The city is the administrativ ...

, Kandy and Galle Fort post offices to private developers, in order for the buildings be converted into hotels. In July 2017 the Kandy City Heritage Committee announced that the post office building would be conserved as a

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...

funded project.

References

{{Kandy landmarks, state=collapsed Post office buildings in Sri Lanka Buildings and structures in Kandy British colonial architecture in Sri Lanka Archaeological protected monuments in Kandy District

History

Present Day

See also

References