Taprobane Island is a rocky private island with one villa, located just off the southern coast of Sri Lanka opposite the village of Weligama. The island was named after the old Greek word for Sri Lanka. The island was previously owned by (self-titled) Count Maurice Maria de Mauny Talvande who fell in love with Weligama Bay. It was he who had the villa built on this tiny island. Another previous owner was the American author and composer Paul Bowles. Other notable people who stayed on Taprobane include Dutch author Peter ten Hoopen, who spent a month there in 1984 during civil unrest on the mainland, as well as Australian performer Kylie Minogue, who composed a song about the island inspired by her stay titled "Taprobane (Extraordinary Day)," and Watercolours-"Dark Island" composed by Jason Kouchak.