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Where in the world

Sri Lanka

Sigiriya

Sinhalese · Sri Lanka

Field notes

civilizations: Sinhalese
types: Village
occupied: 477 CE — 1,155 CE
country: Sri Lanka

The site

Sigiriya, the Lion Rock, is an ancient fortress in central Sri Lanka set atop a sheer granite column rising some 180 metres from the surrounding plain. King Kashyapa chose the summit for his new capital in the late 5th century CE, building his palace there, decorating the rock's sides with colourful frescoes, and framing a stairway halfway up within the paws of an enormous lion gateway that gives the place its name. Abandoned after his death and later a Buddhist monastery, it survives as a World Heritage Site and a landmark of early urban planning.

Nearby sites