Sri Lanka’s first great capital was founded more than 2,300 years ago and governed by a succession of kings who built on a scale that modern engineers still struggle to fully explain. The city’s ancient stupas – including the Ruwanwelisaya, which rises 90 metres above the plain – were constructed from solid brick with a precision and durability that has kept them standing for two millennia. The Sri Maha Bodhi, a fig tree grown from a cutting of the original tree under which the Buddha attained enlightenment, is the oldest documented living human-planted tree on earth. Anuradhapura is not a museum. It’s a place where people still come to pray, every single day.