Anuradhapurais a major city in Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of North Central Province, Sri Lanka. It is one of the ancient capitals of Sri Lanka, famous for its well-preserved ruins of an ancient Sri Lankan civilization. It was the third capital of the Kingdom of Rajarata. The city, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was the center of Theravada Buddhism for many centuries. The city lies 205 km (127 mi) north of the current capital Colombo in Sri Lanka’s North Central Province. It is believed that from the fourth century BC until the beginning of the 11th century AD it was the capital of the Sinhalese.