Colombo 11 (Pettah)

Pettah, in the postal area Colombo 11, lies east of Fort and behind the Colombo Port. It is one of Sri Lanka's busiest commercial areas, with a huge number of wholesale and retail shops, markets and commercial institutions. Pettah Market is a series of open-air markets, laid out like a giant crossword puzzle that you can walk from dawn until dusk without covering all of it.

The name comes from the Tamil word pettai, an Anglo-Indian term for a suburb outside a fort, and in Sinhala it is pita-kotuwa, meaning "outside the fort". The area is multi-religious and multi-ethnic, with Moors, Bohras and Memons forming the largest groups.

Landmarks include the Wolvendaal Church, the Jami Ul-Alfar Mosque, the Khan Clock Tower, the former Colombo Town Hall, the Colombo Dutch Museum, the Pettah Floating Market and the Central Bus Station.