The large city of Matara is located on the southern tip of the island of Sri Lanka, 180 km from the international airport. With the actual capital of the country, Colombo Matara is connected by a broadband toll highway, which can be reached in just 1.5 hours.

Despite the fact that the city is located on the coast, Matara is known not as a resort town, but as a major administrative, commercial and political center of the district of the same name. The history of the city has more than two thousand years.

The history of the city of Matara has been documented since the 2nd century BC, since the existence of the Kingdom of Ruhuna. Throughout its history, the lands of Matara have survived eras of Sinhalese kings, as well as successive Portuguese, Dutch and British colonialists.

Transport
Matara is a major transport center. The railway line from Colombo runs along the entire southwestern coast and ends in Matara. Over time, it is planned to build a railway branch to Kataragama, but so far these are only plans. Matara Bus Station with private and government buses is located in close proximity to Matara Fort.
Bus service in Matara connects routes from Colombo and Tangalle, and is also the base point of departure for bus routes to the mountainous part of the island. From Matara to Colombo there is an express bus on the Southern Expressway, so the journey takes only 1.5 hours.
Further along the coast from Matara are:
north: Kamburugamuwa, Mirissa, Weligama;
to the south: Dondra, Gandara, Talalla, Godauda, ​​Dikwella.

Matara Beach
The beaches of Matara are located within the city – Matara beach (Matara beach) and Polhena (Polhena beach), and therefore are not particularly suitable for swimming, because. both beaches are in a busy area, and Matara beach itself is divided into two parts by a bus station.
In addition, there are Buddhist temples opposite both beaches. For swimming, resort towns adjacent to Matara with excellent beaches are more often chosen: Mirissa and Weligama (to the north) or Dikwella (to the east).

Sights
The old city of Matara is located on a land plot between the ocean and the lagoon of the Nilwala River, on a mountain slope and is protected by the ramparts of Matara Fort 13 meters high and a 5-meter rampart. A modern clock tower was built on top of the rampart.
Bastion on oceanfront was destroyed in order to build in its place a coastal road leading to the city. Outside the walls of the Fort there is a cricket field, during the rule of the Portuguese it was planted with trees.
Outside the territory of the old city of Matara, there used to be four camps to accommodate 80 elephants, and behind it a reservoir where they were washed. Previously, Matara was a major center for the trade in elephants.
The nine-meter ramparts of Fort Matara were erected in 1560 by the Portuguese who arrived on the island and were later rebuilt, fortified and expanded by the Dutch in 1640. The oldest building of Fort Matara is the Dutch Reformatory Church, built in 1706. The Fort itself, in its modern form, the clock tower and the moat were built by the Dutch in 1761-1765. after the uprising, to protect the city.

Star Fort
Across the bridge from the old town is the Star Fort, built in 1763. The fort was built in the shape of a six-pointed star and housed 12 cannons.
The walls of the Star Fort were originally protected by earth embankments 8 meters wide, and between these embankments and the walls was a moat, through which a drawbridge was thrown, providing access to the gate. Since then, the earth has filled the moat.
Within the walls of the Fort there are several buildings that stored ammunition, provisions and housed a small garrison. In the center of the ring of buildings is a well with drinking water.
The fort was built by the Dutch after the attack of the kingdom of Kandy in 1762 to protect the city from the river, but later it was not used as a fort. After the transfer of the territory of Ceylon to the jurisdiction of Great Britain, the Star Fort was used as a library and government institutions, at the moment it houses a museum.

Matara Parawi Duwa Temple
This unusual Buddhist island temple is located at a distance of several tens of meters from the beach of Matara in the direction from the coast inland.
To visit the temple, you need to go through a cable-stayed bridge connecting the island with the shore, this bridge was built in 2008. after the previous one was destroyed by the 2004 tsunami.
The temple is located in the center of Matara beach. The cost of entrance tickets for foreigners is 200 rupees, you need to take off your shoes before entering.

Matara Buddhist Temple Bodhiya
The Buddhist temple, where the sacred Bo tree is kept, has an extremely ancient history: its history can be traced back to the son of the progenitor of the Sinhalese nation, King Kashyapa, King Dharmasena, a poet and playwright.
Once, while walking, King Dharmasena got tangled in lotus shoots and, inspired, wrote the first two lines of a poem. For someone to write a continuation in the form of two more lines, thereby completing the verse, the king promised a generous reward. His friend Kalidasa was able to compose the necessary lines, but did not have time to convey them – out of a thirst for profit, his mistress stole a verse from him and killed Kalidasa, hiding her body from everyone. When Kalidasa’s mistress brought the verse to the king, he recognized his friend’s handwriting and the deceit was revealed. During the funeral of a friend, the king was so moved that he threw himself into the funeral pyre. Seeing what happened, the five wives of the king followed him to the fire.
On seven graves, shoots of the sacred Bo tree were planted, but only one of them has survived to this day, surviving centuries of colonization, saved by local Buddhists.

Weherahena Buddhist Temple Purwarama Rajamaha
Underground Buddhist temple of the 17th century, rebuilt by the local population during the reign of the Portuguese for the secret conduct of religious rites, the temple is considered the largest and, at the same time, the first tunnel temple in the world.
The complex is notable not only for its ground component – a 39-meter Buddha statue, but also underground – the height of the temple located underground is 3 floors.
The temple, located behind a huge statue with painted walls depicting scenes from the life of the Buddha and from the life of hell. At the top is an observation deck. Veherakhena Temple is located 1 km from Matara.
The exact time of the creation of the Veherakhena temple is unknown, it is believed that this place was used by the arhats of Buddhism in ancient times, then it was abandoned and only one Bo tree reminded of the status of the place. The history of the temple in its modern form dates back to the 20th century. The statue was built in 1976.

Dondra Lighthouse
The highest lighthouse in the south of Sri Lanka is located at Cape Dondra. Next to it is located (slightly to the side) the southernmost point of the island. This place attracts tourists, because. further south, to Antarctica itself, there is no land, only the ocean at a distance of over 8 thousand km.
Dondra lighthouse is located 6 km on east of Matara in the village of the same name. The lighthouse was built in 1889. At the top of the lighthouse there is a small sloping observation platform.
Since 2016, entry to the territory of the lighthouse has been limited, and lifting is prohibited, however, in practice, lighthouse keepers periodically organize private tours for a private fee.