Rising 100m from the surrounding plain, the impressive granite outcrop of the Yapahuwa Rock Fortress (adult/child Rs 2000/1000), or Fire Rock, is off the beaten track, but it's a fascinating place with an important history. The ancient fortress once housed a royal palace and was protected by inner and outer ramparts, gates and moats.
From the ticket office you climb an ornamental staircase, Yapahuwa's single finest feature, which leads to a platform that once held the Temple of the Tooth. The porches on the stairway had extraordinarily beautiful pierced-stone windows, one of which is in the site museum (off a parking area about 300m before the entrance to the steps). One of the lions near the top of the staircase features on Sri Lanka's Rs 10 note.
After another climb you eventually reach the rock summit and its wonderfully breezy 360-degree views. A stupa and bodhi tree shrine once stood here.
Back on ground level, to the side of the main monastery buildings, a cave temple contains some lovely 13th-century frescoes. You may have to ask the monk to unlock the temple with its comically giant key.
