Anuradhapura

Anuradhapura was the capital of Sri Lanka from around the fourth century BC until the eleventh century AD — well over a thousand years, which makes it one of the longest continuously inhabited capitals of the ancient world. It was abandoned after invasion, swallowed by jungle, and re-excavated under the British.

What distinguishes it from other ruined cities is that it never stopped being sacred. This is an active pilgrimage site: much of what you walk through is not archaeology but a functioning religious centre, with worshippers in white at every major shrine.

The sacred fig at the centre of the city was grown from a cutting of the Bodhi tree at Bodh Gaya, under which the Buddha attained enlightenment, and was planted here in 288 BC. It is among the oldest trees planted by human hands anywhere in the world with a recorded planting date, and it has been tended continuously ever since.

It is the most venerated place on the island after the Temple of the Tooth. Behave accordingly: white clothing is customary, shoulders and knees covered, shoes off, and no turning your back on the tree for a photograph.

Three enormous brick stupas dominate the site. Ruwanwelisaya is the most revered and the most alive with pilgrims. Jetavanaramaya was, when built in the third century, among the tallest structures in the ancient world — only the pyramids at Giza stood higher — and is thought to have used many millions of bricks. Abhayagiri anchored a monastery that housed thousands of monks.

Smaller but more affecting are Thuparamaya, the island's oldest dagoba, and Isurumuniya, a rock temple with the celebrated carving known as the Lovers.

The site is enormous — the monuments are spread over many square kilometres, not clustered. Walking between them in the heat is not realistic. Most visitors cover it by car, and cycling is a genuinely good alternative in the cooler hours if you are up for it.