Sacred City of Anuradhapura

A cutting of the Buddha's own fig tree, carried to Sri Lanka in the 3rd century BCE by the nun Sanghamitta, still grows in Anuradhapura — reputedly the oldest documented tree on Earth. Around it a capital flourished for thirteen centuries, raising colossal dagobas, palaces and monasteries, until an invasion in 993 drove the court away and jungle closed over the ruins. Rediscovered and revered again, the sacred city was inscribed by UNESCO in 1982.