Nowadays Jaffna’s colonial past is still visible in the colonial architecture. The Portuguese established the city as their colonial administrative center in 1621, the Dutch VOC took it over in 1658. Among others, the Dutch Fort has remained over the centuries, while many colonial era buildings were destroyed or damaged during the country’s Civil War, which ended in 2009. However, you can still see some ancient Dutch-style houses and civil buildings. When the British occupied the country, there also was an expansion in trade and development in the Jaffna area that led to the construction of roads and the railway system.