Jaffna

Jaffna, located in the north of Sri Lanka, has a rich millennium-old history marked by Tamil influences. A center of commerce and culture since antiquity, it was the heart of the Kingdom of Jaffna from the 13th to the 17th century. Conquered by the Portuguese in 1620, followed by the Dutch and then the British, each colonial period left a lasting imprint. After Sri Lanka's independence in 1948, Jaffna suffered during the civil war but is now working on its reconstruction and preserving its unique heritage.