via BBC Travel, 07 December 2021: BBC Travel’s feature on ancient engineering marvels look at the water gardens of Sri Lanka’s Sigiriya.
Sigiriya, an ancient rock fortress and former royal palace, is one of Sri Lanka’s most visited and best-known sights, attracting just more than one million visitors in 2019. But on this sunny day in May 2021, my partner and I were the only two people there.
Dating back to 477 AD, Sigiriya is considered one of South Asia’s best-preserved examples of urban planning and one of its most important archaeological sites. The elaborate palace and its towering construction on top of the rock, as well as its risqué artwork, resulted in its 1982 listing as a Unesco World Heritage Site. However, its ingenious garden and water systems at the foot of the rock are what make it a national treasure.
The gardens at Sigiriya are not only the best-preserved water gardens in South Asia but some of the oldest landscaped gardens in the world. Important guests in the 5th Century would have walked a path with the impressively designed water gardens on either side, serving as a grand entrance to the more than 1,200 steps leading up to the palace.
Source: Sigiriya: Sri Lanka’s ancient water gardens – BBC Travel
