14/12/2021
Mount Lavinia - The City named after a Gypsy Dancer...
The city’s name is built up around the original residence of Sir Thomas Maitland who was the Governor General of Ceylon from 1805–1811. At a welcoming party held in his honour on his arrival to the island, he saw Lovina, a beautiful local dancer of European and Sinhalese ancestry. It was love at first sight. Sir Thomas was smitten by her smile and charms and soon found himself infatuated by her, taking every measure possible to see more of her. As it was unconventional for an unmarried British Officer to be seen associating with a local dancing girl, Sir Thomas and his lover met in secret. Legend says she was smuggled into his mansion through a secret tunnel that led from her father’s well into a wine cellar in the house.
In 1811, social convention and duty to his king led Sir Thomas Maitland to leave the country for Malta forcing him to abandon his zealous lover, Lovina. In Malta, he lived and died as a bachelor and the tunnel in the old house was eventually sealed in 1920 and the gypsy village that surrounded the Governor’s mansion developed into a modern bustling city that took its name from the beautiful Lovina. Today the governor’s home is the Mount Lavinia Hotel, yet the history of the passionate affair has been preserved within the walls and high ceilings. The statue of ‘Lady’ Lavinia, as the girl later became known, is still found in the middle of a water fountain at the entrance of the Mount Lavinia Hotel.
(Source: http://www.srilankatailormade.com)
