The 5th-century sky palace built on a volcanic monolith 200 metres above the surrounding forest – ancient water gardens at the base, celestial maiden frescoes painted directly onto the cliff face mid-ascent, and a summit panorama across the Cultural Triangle plain that has been drawing admiring visitors since the 7th century CE when the first lines of praise were inscribed on the mirror wall below. There is nothing else like Sigiriya in South Asia, and the physical experience of ascending it – through garden, past fresco, through lion’s paws, to the summit – makes it the most immediately memorable single heritage experience on any Sri Lanka itinerary.