Old Parliament Building & President's House

The Old Parliament Building, completed in 1930 to a neoclassical design by Edward Skinner, served as Ceylon's legislature until parliament relocated to Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte in 1982. It now functions as the Presidential Secretariat. Directly adjacent, President's House (formerly Queen's House) was built by the Dutch in the 1780s and later expanded under British rule; it remains the official residence of the President of Sri Lanka. Both buildings are in the restricted Colombo Fort security zone and cannot be entered by the public, but the exteriors are clearly visible from the surrounding streets and from the seafront road. The area is best visited in the morning when the light falls on the facades from the east. Combine with a walk through the Dutch Hospital precinct and the old lighthouse nearby.