The rich quantities of gems in Rathnapura make it a must-see location on any Sri Lanka vacation itinerary. The Sinhala name, which translates to "Gem City," is very evocative. The river plains and surrounding mountain ranges have an endless supply of white, yellow, pink, orange, purple, and blue star sapphires. This collection includes the fabled Blue Belle, which can be found littering the British Crown, and the star sapphire, aptly named Star of India, which is on exhibit at the New York Museum of Natural History.
Solomon, a wise king, sent scouts to Sri Lanka to look for sapphires for Queen Sheba after learning about the location. The Gem City of Sri Lanka is where seventeen of the largest blue sapphires in the world were discovered. They include the Blue Giant of the Orient, the Queen Mary of Romania, the Blue Belle of Asia, Catherine the Great's Sapphire, and three J.P. Morgan sapphires. They can be seen in collections and museums ranging from the Smithsonian to the State Diamond Fund of Moscow. Additionally, zircon, spinel, alexandrite, and citrine are produced in Sri Lanka.
During your Sri Lanka vacation, a visit to a gem mine can be a thrilling and exciting experience.
The resilience and resolve on the hardworking miners' faces are impressive. They are looking for sapphires and rubies in pits around 20 meters deep, and the hope in their eyes is as bright as the brightness of those stones. The city center is an amazing spectacle of traders buying and selling uncut stones in controlled chaos. Your all-inclusive Sri Lanka vacation will be enhanced if you catch a glimpse of this scene.
Pay a visit to the Gem City and find a treasure trove ranging from the accessible and familiar to the grandiose and exotic.
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