Sri Lanka has more than 3000 years of history and is home to some of the oldest cities in the world, including Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa and Digamadulla. Their once glorious townships, palaces, temples, monasteries, hospitals and theaters, which were intricately carved and modeled from stone, lay in the jungle and were abandoned and forgotten over time.

Of all of Lanka’s ancient cities, the Anuradhapura Kingdom is the most famous and exquisite. Sri Lanka’s third and longest-serving capital and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world is also one of the most sacred cities for world Buddhists. It was the capital of Sri Lanka from the 4th century BC. Until the turn of the 11th century and was one of the most stable and enduring centers of political power and urban life in South Asia.

Sigiriya, a 5th century AD fortress and water garden display some of the most futuristic elements of landscaping and some of the oldest murals in the country.

Polonnaruwa, the second oldest kingdom in the country, have irrigation systems far superior to those in the country, and they provide irrigation water to farmers in and around Polonnaruwa. Digamadulla, the Eastern Kingdom of Sri Lanka, was the agricultural and spiritual capital of the country during the Anuradhapura Kingdom.

Sri Lanka’s last kingdom, the Kingdome of Kandy, is evidence that Sri Lanka is able to collect ashes and rise from them. After the Kandyan kingdom was burned and ravaged more than three times by the invading Portuguese, beautifully carved and built houses, palaces and temples have been preserved over the course of nearly 500 years.