Sigiriya-The Rock Fortress



The Sigiriya fortress (Lion's rock) is an ancient rock fortress situatued in central "Mathale District" of Sri Lanka.There you find a palace and garden complex centering a 200 metre high rock.This is unofficially known as the 8th wonder of the world because the ancient technology used in this palace and garden has supriced even the modern architecture.Sigriya is Sri Lanka's most recognizable landmark and has been declared as a World Heritage Site....Sigiriya,the ancient castle was build by king Kashyapa during the 5th century AD.This site has the ruins of an upper palace on the flat top of the rock, a mid level terrace which consists of the Lion Gate and the mirror wall with its frescoes,in the lower palace you can see motes,walls and gardens covering hundreds of meters over the base of the rock.Sigiriya is a palace as well as a fortress,and it is still has sufficient ruins to provide tourists with a stunning flashback into the age of its great builders!

Sigiriya is considered as one of the most important and most advanced sites of urban planning in the first millennium.This site is a wonderful example of how to interlock the geometrical planned the natural surroundings.The water retaining structures which are contained in the park includes sophisticated sub/surface hydraulic systems and some of them are even working today!



Talking about Sigiriya, one can't forget the famous maidens.John still,the discoverer of the Sigiriya ruins had observed that "The whole face of the hill appears to have been a gigantic picture gallery...the largest picture in the world perhaps".....these paintings which are covering the western face ofthe rock are about 140 meters long and about 40 meters high.But very many of them can be seen today.

One of another famous aspect of Sigiriya,is the mirror wall,a highly polished rock surface that has weathered the times to shine and reflect even today.



The Sigiriya fortress (Lion's rock) is an ancient rock fortress situatued in central "Mathale District" of Sri Lanka.There you find a palace and garden complex centering a 200 metre high rock.This is unofficially known as the 8th wonder of the world because the ancient technology used in this palace and garden has supriced even the modern architecture.Sigriya is Sri Lanka's most recognizable landmark and has been declared as a World Heritage Site....Sigiriya,the ancient castle was build by king Kashyapa during the 5th century AD.This site has the ruins of an upper palace on the flat top of the rock, a mid level terrace which consists of the Lion Gate and the mirror wall with its frescoes,in the lower palace you can see motes,walls and gardens covering hundreds of meters over the base of the rock.Sigiriya is a palace as well as a fortress,and it is still has sufficient ruins to provide tourists with a stunning flashback into the age of its great builders!

Sigiriya is considered as one of the most important and most advanced sites of urban planning in the first millennium.This site is a wonderful example of how to interlock the geometrical planned the natural surroundings.The water retaining structures which are contained in the park includes sophisticated sub/surface hydraulic systems and some of them are even working today!



Talking about Sigiriya, one can't forget the famous maidens.John still,the discoverer of the Sigiriya ruins had observed that "The whole face of the hill appears to have been a gigantic picture gallery...the largest picture in the world perhaps".....these paintings which are covering the western face ofthe rock are about 140 meters long and about 40 meters high.But very many of them can be seen today.

One of another famous aspect of Sigiriya,is the mirror wall,a highly polished rock surface that has weathered the times to shine and reflect even today.

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for the great info! We are dying to visit the Rock Fortress! Here is the picture that makes us daydream: http://goo.gl/UZTTC

    ReplyDelete