Four monumental Buddha figures carved from a single granite face – including a 15-metre reclining figure considered the pinnacle of ancient Sri Lankan rock sculpture and among the finest Buddhist art in Asia.

The ruins of King Parakramabahu I’s 12th-century palace, with walls still standing to seven storeys and the outlines of state rooms clearly legible across the site.

An exquisitely decorated circular pavilion housing four seated Buddha statues – the finest example of the circular relic shrine form in Sri Lanka and one of the most detailed structures in the ancient city.

A towering brick ruin whose headless standing Buddha still dominates the landscape, with intricately carved stone friezes and traces of the original plaster visible in sheltered sections.

The vast reservoir built by the great king whose dictum – that not a drop of rain should flow to the sea without benefiting mankind – shaped hydraulic engineering in this region for a thousand years.