📷 chathuraanuradha · Pixabay

Where in the world

Sri Lanka

Anuradhapura

Sinhalese · Sri Lanka

Field notes

civilizations: Sinhalese
types: City
occupied: 400 BCE — 1,017 CE
country: Sri Lanka

The site

Anuradhapura is an ancient city on the north central plain of Sri Lanka, cradle of the Sinhalese civilisation and a World Heritage Site famous for its well-preserved ruins. Though tradition places its founding in 437 BCE, the site has been inhabited far longer, making it one of the oldest continuously occupied cities in Asia. For centuries it served as the capital of the Sinhala kingdom of Rajarata and a great centre of Theravada Buddhism.

Nearby sites