There are eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Sri Lanka. And there’s some great variety here – ancient ruins, important religious sites, beautiful scenery. So read on for our guide to the World Heritage Sites in Sri Lanka!
Sacred City of Anuradhapura World Heritage Site
The Sacred City of Anuradhapura is an important Buddhist site in the central north of Sri Lanka. A key location in the heritage of Sri Lanka, it was founded in around 300 BC. It was the capital of many Sri Lankan kingdoms for well over a thousand years. These days, the ruined city features a whole bunch of still-active Buddhist shrines, many dagobas (or pagodas), monasteries, palaces, and water-tanks. The site also features a sacred Bo Tree, which apparently dates back over two thousand years!
Ancient City of Polonnaruwa World Heritage Site
The next UNESCO World Heritage site in Sri Lanka is the Ancient City of Polonnaruwa, another of the ancient capitals of Sri Lanka. Another key place in Sri Lankan heritage, the city here was built from around the 11th century AD and was constructed to be the new capital of King Vijayabahu I. The ruins here are absolutely stunning in their scope and preservation. You can clearly see the Royal Palace, temples, monasteries, dagobas, water fountains, and much more besides. There’s also incredible carvings and artworks to see all over the site.
Golden Temple of Dambulla World Heritage Site
Located in a series of caves, high on a hill above the town of Dambulla, this World Heritage site covers five decorated caves. Another important location for heritage in Sri Lanka, these caves are sacred shrines to Buddha and packed full with over 150 statues and thousands of paintings. The artwork is mostly about the life and teachings of Buddha, though several kings make appearances as well. Although the caves and monastery here date back to the first century BC, it’s likely that much of the artwork is far more recent – likely from the past few hundred years – but it’s still absolutely stunning.
Ancient City of Sigiriya World Heritage Site
The Ancient City of Sigiriya is one of the most incredible UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Sri Lanka. Constructed from around the 5th century AD, it’s both a palace fortress, and a city. The top of the palace sits high on the flat top of an enormous rock above the plains below. Below, you find lower terraces featuring the amazing Lion Gate staircase, a cave with beautifully preserved frescoes, and the famous Mirror Wall. And right at the bottom, the palace is surrounded by an entire city complex, where you can clearly see the remains of buildings, temples and monasteries, plus water features and gardens too. It’s a supremely beautiful place, and probably our favourite site in all of Sri Lanka.
Sacred City of Kandy World Heritage Site
Next in our list of Sri Lanka heritage sites is the historic city of Kandy. Although most of central Kandy is included in this World Heritage site, the highlight is easily the Temple of the Golden Tooth Relic. This gleaming white temple on the waterfront is part of a larger palace complex, and holds a relic sacred to all Buddhists – one of Buddha’s teeth. The Tooth itself has been a symbol of Sri Lankan royalty for centuries, which explains why the temple is within a palace complex. Although the relic itself is only displayed at infrequent intervals, this is a fantastic place to come and experience the atmosphere. There’s also a really interesting museum with paintings showing the story of the Tooth, and its journey from Buddha’s funeral pyre to the modern city of Kandy. And as a nice bonus – Kandy has some beautiful colonial buildings too.
Central Highlands of Sri Lanka World Heritage Site
This world heritage site covers three separate wilderness areas in the centre of Sri Lanka. There’s the Peak Wilderness, the Horton Plains, and Knuckles Conservation Forest. Packed full of rugged mountains, rainforests, and tea plantations, and they’re also home to an incredible variety of species too. Although we weren’t able to see much on our hike due to really poor weather! But other visitors can expect to see all sorts of monkeys, slender loris, birds and insects. And some incredible vistas as well! One of the more unusual World Heritages in Sri Lanka.
The Old Town of Galle and its Fortifications World Heritage Site
Our next example of World Heritage in Sri Lanka is the Old Town of Galle. Galle is a major city on the south-western coastline of Sri Lanka. Although it was a key seaport for centuries, Galle’s history took a dramatic turn when Portuguese explorers arrived in the early 16th century. However, it was the later Dutch and then British colonists that transformed Galle into the impressive trading post and fortress we can see today. The fortifications are immense, with huge stone walls and bastions. Inside the fortress there’s a grid layout of streets with many beautiful colonial era buildings.
Sinharaja Forest Reserve World Heritage Site
The last World Heritage site in Sri Lanka is a small biosphere of lowland rainforest in southern Sri Lanka. It’s among the best-preserved forest areas in the whole country, and has a very high rate of endemic tree species. We had a great day here, hiking trails through the rainforest. Up and down hills, looking at beautiful waterfalls and marvelling at the lizards, snakes, birds and many other animals.
And that concludes our list of the eight Sri Lanka World Heritage sites. There’s a bit of history, a bit of nature, and more. While you’re here, be sure to check out some of our other region guides like the World Heritage Sites in Denmark or the World Heritage Sites in Tuscany. Or if you’re interested in how World Heritage sites get selected, check out World Heritage Sites – Your Questions Answered megapost.
And as always, don’t forget to Subscribe to our YouTube channel so that you never miss a new episode!