Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte is now Sri Lanka’s Administrative Capital, located within ten kilometres from the Commercial Capital of Colombo. Kotte was the capital of Sri Lanka in the 15th century.

Before becoming the capital, Kotte was first developed as a fortress in the late 14th century by Nissanka Alakeshvara to serve as a base for his attacks on the Arya Chakravarti of Jaffna. In 1415, with the ascension of Parakramabahu VI as King, Kotte was selected as the capital due to its fortifications and expanded into a beautiful city with further fortifications. Kotte served as the capital of the kingdom till 1565 when the Portuguese who were defending the Kingdom on behalf of King Dharmapala decided to relocate the city to Colombo due to the continuous attacks from the Seethavaka Kingdom under Rajasinghe I. It is said that they demolished the buildings and used the material to expand Colombo.

What remains of the old capital city at present and commonly known, are the Veherakanda ruins, Alakeshvara’s palace, some ruins at Parakumba Pirivena, the tunnel at Ananda Sastralaya, the inner and outer moats and sections of the rampart.

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