Anuradhapura, located in the North Central Province was the island’s first capital city founded in the 4^th century BC by King Pandukabaya and remained the capital till the 11^th century AD making it one of the longest reigning capital cities in the world on par with Rome and Constantinople. Written records state that Anuradhapura was founded as a settlement in the 5^th century BC by one of the ministers of King Vijaya the first recorded monarch and later expanded into a systematic city by King Pandukabaya in the 4^th century BC, but archaeological evidences have shown Anuradhapura to have been a considerable settlement in the 9^th century BC and were 75 hectares in extent by the 5^th century BC. This ancient metropolis reached its full 100 hectares extent by 250 BC making it the largest city south of the great North Indian cities. With the introduction of Buddhism to the island in the 3^rd century BC Anuradhapura became one of the largest Buddhist learning centers in the region. Its fall came during the 1017 AD South Indian Cholar invasions after which the capital was moved to Polonnaruwa.

Anuradhapura’s most important section was the ancient citadel which included the Royal palaces, religious buildings and other important public buildings and was surrounded by a rampart. Surrounding the citadel were the great Viharas or temples. To the was situated the Maha Vihara with the magnificent Ruwanweli Stupa and the Sri Maha Bodhiya- the world’s oldest recorded tree, to the north the Abeyagiriya monastery with the gigantic Abeyagiri Stupa and to the east was the Jethavanaramaya with the world’s largest brick structure the Jethavanarama Stupa. And around these were the giant man-made tanks of the Nuwara wawe, Tissa wawe, and the Abeya wawe. At its zenith Anuradhapura would have represented the peak of Sinhalese, art and architecture having been a capital for over 1000 years and its many sacred sites such as the restored Ruwanweli Seya Stupa and the Sri Maha Bodhiya are still one of the largest pilgrimage sites in the country, this ancient capital was made a World Heritage Site in 1982.