Visiting Sri Lanka, at first we did not plan to visit the Sigiriya fortress, but thanks to our guide we decided to go, which we did not regret at all.
Sigiriya means "lion rock" and in fact is a large rocky plateau, which rises about 370 meters above sea level and 170 meters above the plain.
At the end of the 5th century A. D. e. King Kasapa decided to build an impregnable fortress on the rock, the area around it was dug by moats with water, gardens were laid out, and the entrance to the rock passed through the lion's gate. Over time, only paws have survived from the gigantic figure of a lion, whose mouth was previously the entrance to the fortress. Now the Sigiriya fortress is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
There is a garden at the foot of the rock.
There are many guides on the territory of the fortress who offer, one might even say that they impose their services. But it seems to me that walking around this place ourselves is a much better option. I advise you to go here early in the morning, when there are few tourists and the weather is fine.
The ascent, inspection and descent took us about two hours. The ascent is not as hard as it might seem at first glance, but it will still be difficult for an elderly person. The ascent here is quite extreme, you need to climb up an almost sheer cliff along serpentine stairs. Despite the fact that they were fenced off with a net, they still did not inspire much confidence in me.
Promotional video:
A pleasant feature of the excursion to the rock was that here we saw many monkeys running at all levels, not only at the foot of the rock.
As we gradually climbed the plateau, very beautiful views opened up in front of us.
Steps lead to a flat top about 2 hectares in size, where the palace used to be. According to historians, the pediment of the palace was built of marble and precious stones and was surrounded by gardens and water bodies.
Now, of course, Sigiriya is badly destroyed, only the remains of stone stairs and ruins are visible everywhere. It seems to me that it used to be very beautiful here and everything was as protected as possible. But all the same, according to the preserved ditches, huge gates, the ruins of a once grandiose palace, you can in your head recreate the mighty city that once was located here.
The frescoes depicting naked dancing women were especially impressive here. It is noteworthy that it is still unknown who was the author of these amazing works and what kind of women are depicted in the frescoes. Some believe that these are numerous wives of the king, while others believe that these are women who took part in religious rites. There is a sign next to each fresco, according to which it is strictly forbidden to photograph here with a flash. By the way, there are guards all over the rock who are watching over the observance of order.