Anuradhapura - an ancient city in the jungle

Anuradhapura is an ancient city in the jungle, the ancient center of Buddhism and the first capital of the island of Sri Lanka. Anuradhapura is 205 kilometers from Colombo. The founder was the king of Anuradhapura Pandukabhaya, the fourth king of the island of Sri Lanka.Anuradhapura was famous for its splendor and lasted 15 centuries. Were to settle here in 900 BC. Since the city was in the jungle, he was well sheltered from the invaders, the soil was fairly fertile and the city grew and developed. In 377 BC Anuradhapura was the biggest religious and commercial center. And so the city grew and developed until the 11th century BC, and then captured and destroyed by invaders. Since then, the ancient city was abandoned and is only open in the 1630 Italian AF Negran.In our time, consists of Anuradhapura Old Town, where there are archaeological monuments of antiquity, and the New Town, home to some 50,000 people, here is a tourist area. In the New Town of Anuradhapura has wonderful hotels and guest houses, all very affordable price. There are also shops selling souvenirs, but is wary of artifacts, since removal of the original ancient artifacts, which more than one hundred years old is prohibited and punishable by the laws of Sri Lanka.First of all, tourists are attracted by the Old Town, it is fairly well preserved remains of an ancient city in the jungle. In the ancient city there were many Buddhist monuments, for example the most famous stupa Ruvanveli (90 m) stupa Abhayagiriya (110 m), Jetavana Stupa (120 m), the three highest buildings of the ancient world. And there lives an ancient Buddhist Bo tree (tree of Buddha).Anuradhapura great place of pilgrimage for Buddhists on the island.