Mount Lavinia (, ) is a suburb in

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

located within the administrative boundaries of the

Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia (; ), population 245,974 (2012), is a large municipality in Sri Lanka, covering . It lies south of the Colombo Municipal Council area and is separated from it by the Dehiwala canal which forms the northern boundary of DMMC ...

municipal limits. The area is a mostly residential suburb, known as Colombo's beach retreat it is famed for its "Golden Mile" of beaches. The town came into official recognition when

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Sir Thomas Maitland Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom), Lieutenant General Sir Thomas Maitland (10 March 1760 – 17 January 1824) was a British Army officer, politician and colonial administrator. He also served as a Member of Parliament for Haddington (UK Parli ...

used the postal address Mt. Lavinia, Ceylon, in 1805, while writing to the British Secretary of State, Lord Castlereagh. The suburb also boasts

S.Thomas' College Saint Thomas or St. Thomas may refer to: People * Thomas the Apostle (died AD 72), Jewish-Christian follower of Jesus and evangelist * Thomas the Hermit, Coptic Desert Father and Saint of the 4th century * Thomas of Maurienne or Thomas of Farf ...

, one of Sri Lanka's most prestigious primary and secondary schools and Girls' High school, one of Sri Lanka's most popular girls schools.

Etymology

The area's name arose when the second

Governor of Ceylon {{Use dmy dates, date=November 2019 The governor of Ceylon can refer to historical vice-regal representatives of three colonial powers: Portuguese Ceylon * List of captains of Portuguese Ceylon (1518–1551) * List of captain-majors of Portugue ...

, acquired land at "Galkissa" (Mount Lavinia) and decided in 1806 to construct a personal residence there. Maitland fell in love with Lovina Aponsuwa, a local

mestiço ''Mestiço'' is a Portuguese term that referred to persons of mixed European and Indigenous non-European ancestry in the former Portuguese Empire. Mestiço community in Brazil In Colonial Brazil, it was initially used to refer to , persons b ...

dancer, and continued a romantic affair with her until he was recalled to England in 1811. The Governor's mansion, which he named "Mount Lavinia House" is now the

Mount Lavinia Hotel The Mount Lavinia Hotel, in Mount Lavinia, Sri Lanka, is a 275-room hotel, situated at 100 Hotel Road in Mount Lavinia. It is recognised as one of the oldest and most famous hotels in the country. It has been continuously operating as a hote ...

and the village that surrounded the building has subsequently developed into a bustling area, taking its name from the Governor's mistress, Lovina. In 2023, a song based on this story titled "Loveena" was released by Chitral Somapala and Kanchana Anuradhi. The song was written by

Kamal Gunaratne General (Sri Lanka), General G. D. H. Kamal Gunaratne, Weera Wickrama Vibhushanaya, WWV, Rana Wickrama Padakkama, RWP, Rana Sura Padakkama, RSP, Uttama Seva Padakkama, USP is a retired Sri Lankan army general. He was the Ministry of Defence (S ...

, Secretary to the Ministry of Defence.(17 July 2023)
"Defence Secretary launches new song ‘Loveena’"
NewsWire. Retrieved on 4 October 2023. There are other explanations rooted in geography and the natural surroundings, when it comes to the origin of the name Mount Lavinia. The Sinhalese who lived on the coastal belt had named the promontory "Lihiniya Kanda" () or "Lihiniyagala" () meaning the hill of the sea gull or the rock of the sea gull. The local name for the town today is Galkissa - "kissa" (කිස්ස) being a somewhat obsolete Sinhala word for rock.

References

Populated places in Western Province, Sri Lanka {{WesternLK-geo-stub