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Mapagala Fortress
To the South of Sigiriya is the Mapagala Fortress. Archaeological Commissioner Hocart in the 1920s took note of the cyclopean style stone walls in the fort, and the square hammered stones in the ramparts of the Citadel. The ability to cut such massive blocks of granite to precision suggested that iron-smelting and iron tools were available to construction workers. This is supported in the carving of the stone thrones in the Citadel, one at the foot in the Assembly Hall, and another in the palace on the summit. In fact the Sigiri-bim was one of the earliest places where iron-smelting was carried out. This has been revealed by excavations carried out in the 1980s and 1990s in the Aligala Care in the Citadel itself, at Dehi-gaha-ala-kande near Alakolawewa village 8-9 km South-East of Sigiriya and in the Kiri-oya valley to the east where stone forges were found carved in the rock along with covered slag heaps. by Derrick Schokman
Updated
February 13, 2007
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