Sigiriya

Former capital of Sri Lanka in the 5th Century. The site was also a Buddhist monastery, both before and after its use as a capital. The larger rock to the right in the first pic is Sigiriya. It was developed in a lion shape and called Lion (not Pride) Rock. This picture was taken from a paddled catanarn "cruise" to Hirawadunna (see another post). The main palace was at the top and is shown in pics 2&3. The 4th pic looks at the final stairway to the top as it is today. This is taken from Lion's Paw Terrace, and if you look to the left of the stairs, you will see what's left of one of the original paws. 5th is one of the natural boulder arches around the main rock that is used as part of the accesway to the site. The last pic looks down on the western part of the city from the top. This was originally an extensive water garden, one of the oldest of it's type in existence.Read more