Sigiriya
Sigiriya is an ancient rock fortress and palace built by King Kashyapa during the reign of 473 – 495 which is standing majestically 660 feet straight up. It is located in the northern Matale district near the town of Dambulla in central province of Sri Lanka. The word Sigiriya or the Sinhagiri means the Lion’s Rock where you have to climb up 1200 steps before you reach the Lion Rock Fortress on top of Sigiriya. It will take 1.5 - 3 hours to climb up the rock and to get back down but that sounds harder than it is.
This fortified garden city of Sigiriya rock fortress is an exceptional master piece of ancient urban planning / landscape & architecture / construction technology /exceptional hydraulic engineering & management / ancient fine art with unique harmony between nature and human imagination and all these living examples proved that it was a Well Planned City & Palace in 5th Century AD. Sigiriya rock fortress is recognized as one of the best preserved surviving ancient urban sites in Asia from the 1st millennium or simply it’s a Living Museum.