Majestically located in the North Central Province, the city of Anuradhapura was first settled by Anuradha, a follower of Prince Vijaya the founder of the Sinhalese race. Throughout the timeline which goes back to nearly 1000 years, Sinhalese kings and occasional South Indian intruders reigned from the palaces of Anuradhapura. It was the most extensive and significant of the Sri Lankan royal capitals, but its extent of its history since its collapse, make it more difficult to understand than younger, shorter-lived Polonnaruwa. Many ancient monuments still stand tall, and have become a fascinating place for site seeing. Ruwanwelisaya stands on the top of the must see list when in Anuradhapura as it's one of the tallest stupas in the country dating back to 2BC. At present, the city is a rather delightful, inspiring memento of a glorious past, worthy of being named as 1 of 8 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Sri Lanka.