Wennappuwa is a town in Puttalam District

Puttalam District

Puttalam is a district situated near to the west coast of Sri Lanka. It has an area of . Along with the Kurunegala District, it formulates the North Western Province of Sri Lanka. The district capital is Puttalam, which borders the Kala Oya and Modaragam Aru in the north, Anuradhapura District and...

, located in the North Western Province

North Western Province, Sri Lanka

North Western Province is a province of Sri Lanka. The districts of Kurunegala and Puttalam formulate Wayamba. Its capital is Kurunegala, which has a population of 28,571. The province is known mainly for its numerous coconut plantations. Other main towns in this province are Chilaw and Puttalam...

, Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...

.

History

Wennappuwa was a minor village a few decades ago but has seen a rapid degree of growth and development recently. There has been a huge increase in buildings and a great reduction in trees and green areas. Agricultural lands like paddy fields (still present in the early 1990s) have largely been used for building and development.
At present, a number of educational institutes are found here, such as Joseph Vaz College

Joseph Vaz College

The Joseph Vaz College of Wennappuwa was founded in January 1935. It is considered to be a leading Public School in Sri Lanka...

, Holy Family Girls' school and the Infamous Rotary Tuition Classes.

Wennappuwa is a consumer hotspot especially during the festive seasons such as Christmas.

Historical evidences

Historical evidences extracted from 'The Culavamsa

Culavamsa

The Cūḷavaṃsa, also Chulavamsa, is a historical record, written in the Pāli language, of the kings of Sri Lanka. It covers the period from the 4th century to 1815....

' (pp 97) teach that the inception of the village, Wennappuwa, which was originally, called either 'Wenniarpura' or 'Wenupura' runs back about 850 years at the time, King Parakramabahu the great (1153-1186 AD) ruled Anuradhapura

Anuradhapura

Anuradhapura, , is one of the ancient capitals of Sri Lanka, famous for its well-preserved ruins of ancient Lankan civilization.The city, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, lies 205 km north of the current capital Colombo in Sri Lanka's North Central Province, on the banks of the historic...

. The original settlers of Wennappuwa were the farmers and similar to other farmers in the country, they too settled down by the tank called "the village" i.e: 'Gangoda.'

An old church made of wattle and daub, consecrated to St. Joseph was put up in Gangoda in 1850. Very Rev. Fr. Contentious Chounavel (OMI) a French Missionary the founder of the new St. Joseph's church arrived at Wennappuwa between (1861-1863 A.D.) There were only 300 families then. His sole intention was to gather those families whose staunch faith was strong and visible, under one roof. The roads were coming up and he realized that a new church should be built by the main road in order to accommodate the growing population.

The brother of "Uthuwan Kande Soora Saradiel"Mawanella#History, lived with his family at Haldanduwana http://www.fallingrain.com/world/CE/32/Haldanduwana.html and learnt sculpture under Very Rev. Fr. Chounavel who was the Parish Priest of Haldanduwana and a master of sculpture. The great historical statue of St. Joseph on the front facade of the St. Joseph's Church Wennappuwa, sculptured by Saradiel's brother is a fine example for Fr. Chounavel's mastermind of sculpture.

The Catholic Diocese

The church (1880 AD), which is a symbol of unity and co-existence, stands by the Chilaw

Chilaw

Chilaw is a western seaboard town on the island of Sri Lanka.It is a bustling town with a famous fishmarket and beach...

-Negombo

Negombo

Negombo is a town of about 121,933, approximately 37 km north of Colombo, in Sri Lanka. It is located at the mouth of the Negombo Lagoon, about 7 km from the Bandaranaike International Airport...

 main road in the heart of Wennappuwa town. The church is a unique feature in many villages and towns in the coastal belt, especially from Colombo

Colombo

Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo...

to Puttalam.

Relationship with Europe

It's very interesting to note that a considerable amount of people have left the city seeking employment in a lot countries in Europe, Italy being the top in the list. The effect Italy has created among the lives of people in Wennappuwa is immense. It's a known fact that a large amount of foreign remmitances are flowing in to the city every month making a massive contribution to the city's economy. Because of this, the prices of immovable and movable properties have risen sky-high due to the escalation demand day by day. People who are employed in Italy are buying more and more lands for both residential and commercial purposes. The presence of all the major banks in Sri Lanka, Increase in real-estate investments in the city by large property developers, Development in infrastructure facilities such as schools(Both local and international), roads, commercial facilities etc etc. are the visible indications of the city going towards the prosperity and may become the capital of Puttalam District, Sri Lanka in very near future.