In the 1500s the Europeans arrived to Sri Lanka and brought with them their architectural styles. The Dutch had the greatest influence architecturally, with the greatest examples from their time being the town of Galle (1663), although most churches throughout the country are also European-influenced. The British also made a splash with the Colombo Fort and the Old Parliament Building (today the Presidential Secretariat).
Since independence, a number of movements have arrived, including the internationally popular modernism and post-modernism, with a number of modern buildings in the country today, most notably in the capital city of Colombo. However a greater influence, a part of a sub-movement called "Topical Modernism", was Geoffrey Bawa. Bawa dominated the architecture of the country from the 1960s-1980s, including the Nelum Pokuna Mahinda Rajapaksa Theatre (2011) in Colombo.