Sigiriya

Sigiriya
The Ancient City of Sigiriya holds the ruins of a former Sinhalese capital, including a rock fortress and palace. At the end of the 5th century, this enormous complex was constructed by Prince Kasyapa. Being in fear of an invasion, he tried to make it as impenetrable as possible.

The site is also known as Lions Rock. At the level below the top, two very big lions claws give way to the final and most important stage of the complex, the palace. According to old descriptions, in the past you had to walk through the wide-open mouth of a lion to get there.

Halfway on Sigiriya-rock, you can see very special mural paintings. They are non-religious representations of women, of which some have been preserved very well. Some sources even say that the whole western face of the rock used to be covered with these paintings (of 500 women).

Year Decision Comments
1982 Inscribed Reasons for inscription



Visit August 1996

The site in total is quite an experience. First you have to climb a number of stairs. You walk past the paintings of the women, an awesome sight in itself. Then you reach a platform where you can take a rest before the real hard work starts: between the claws of a lion an iron ladder reaches steeply upwards along the rock.

Finally, on top of the rock, you see the site where the palace of the Prince used to stand (now only the ruins are left).

Reviews

Rob Wilson (UK):
A magnificent place! The frescos are just wonderful.
Date posted: July 2008
Johan en Ans Schouten (The Netherlands):
We've been visiting (group of 20 people) Sri Lanka for 3 weeks in December 2007! An absolutely beautiful country with great places to visit. Unfortunately we were often the only tourists at those fantastic heritage places. People stay away because they are afraid of the Tamil war and to be honest there were many road blokkades on our trip to find. We haven't felt in danger though, not for one minute! Our guide kept in daily contact with his office so we were in perfect safe hands. The Sigiriya rock took our breath away. It was raining cats and dogs that day which made the rock look very colourful. The view from the top was absolutely fantastic even it was hidden behind a curtain of rain! The history of the rock is fascinating.
Sri Lanka is a country with loads of heritage places and lots of different landscapes.
Date posted: June 2008
Janaka Priyalal ():
It's a GREAT place. Unbelievable, visit & BELIEVE...
Date posted: September 2006
Dominique Deschamps (France):
Hello, i am curently gathering information about world heritage project SIRIGIYA. We may have some initiative to support the fundraising period with the internet.
http://reporter.orangeblog.fr
Date posted: June 2006
lumbini (sri lanka):
The 'frescoes' and the 'graffitti' on the mirror wall are a treat. Initially there have been about 500 frescoes of the sigiriya maidens. But unfortunately the numbers have been reduced to many reasons.
The climb up is a bit tedious, but don't miss it, you'll be rewarded
 
Gayan (srilanka):
It's the best place to visit if you come down to srilanka.
 


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