Today, it is as much an accepted part of a Bogota Sunday as a tamale (a local favourite of rice, chicken, pork, egg and vegetables wrapped in a palm leaf) for breakfast.

BBC: Reclaiming the streets in Bogota

In the fort's courtyard are several small wooden boats and traditional barasti (palm-leaf) houses, including the primitive Al Kaimah, and the summerhouse Al Areesh with traditional wind-tower (barajeel) "air conditioning".

BBC: The Dubai Museum: Charting the rise of the emirate

Mr Ondaatje has filled the house with the collection of Sri Lankan antiquities he had begun as a schoolboy old maps and prints of Colombo, talipot palm-leaf manuscripts, bird paintings from the Calcutta school, pre-colonial furniture, betel-nut cutters, swords, knives and firearms.

ECONOMIST: Museum sponsorship