Sigiriya

Sigiriya, also known as Lion Rock, is Sri Lanka's single most recognisable landmark and one of the best-preserved examples of ancient urban planning in South Asia. The near-vertical column of granite rises about 180 metres above the surrounding jungle, and in the late 5th century King Kashyapa crowned it with a royal palace, turning the summit into a fortress in the sky.

Visitors climb roughly 1,200 steps past the famous Mirror Wall and the rock shelter of the Sigiriya frescoes, a gallery of celestial maidens painted more than 1,500 years ago. Halfway up, the monumental Lion's Paws flank the final staircase, all that remains of a colossal brick lion through whose mouth the ascent once passed.

At ground level, the water gardens, boulder gardens and terraced gardens form one of the oldest landscaped garden systems in the world, and they are still fed by hydraulic engineering that works during the rainy season today. The site is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and pairs naturally with the neighbouring Pidurangala Rock, whose summit offers the classic photograph of Sigiriya itself.