Sri Lanka’s City of Gems’ and the centre of its gemming industry.
Gems include sapphire, ruby, cat’s eye, alexandrite, topaz, amethyst,
aquamarine, tourmaline, garnet and zircon. Visits to gem mines can be arranged
through travel agents. Gem collections can be seen at the National Museum,
Ratnapura, and a number of private museums.
Ratnapura-located at 103 km from Colombo-is the famous gem-mining town of
Sri Lanka. In fact the name Ratnapura literally means, the City of Gems.
Sri Lanka has the greatest concentration of gems on earth and is ranked
among the top five gem-bearing nations. One can find all types of gems in
Ratnapura-from familiar to exotic. These include: white, yellow, pink, orange,
purple and blue star sapphires, ruby and star ruby, cat's eye, topaz, amethyst,
moonstone, aquamarine, tourmaline, garnet, zircon, spinel, alexandrite,
citrine, etc., and the exotic ones such as patite, sinhalite, ekanite, enstatite,
andalusite, kornerupine, etc., sought by the connoisseur.
Ratnapura City, Sri Lanka Travel Guide - Reservation Form
