Ancient Cities & Heritage
Anuradhapura
North Central Province
The first capital: a sprawl of dagobas, monasteries and reservoirs that functioned as a working city for over a thousand years.
- How long
- 2 days is usually enough
- Best months
- May, June, July, August, September
Anuradhapura was a capital for more than a millennium, and the scale still surprises. The Jetavanaramaya dagoba was once the third-tallest structure on earth after the pyramids at Giza. The Ruwanwelisaya is still whitewashed and still in daily use.
The Sri Maha Bodhi is the reason many Sri Lankans come. Grown from a cutting of the tree the Buddha sat under, brought here in the third century BCE, it is the oldest human-planted tree in the world with a recorded planting date.
The site spreads over many kilometres, so this is one to do by vehicle with stops rather than on foot. Two days lets you see it without rushing.
