1. National Museum Cardiff, 2. Castell Coch, 3. St Fagans National History Museum, 4. The Royal Mint Experience, 5. Welsh National War Memorial, 6. Royal Arcade, 7. Cardiff Castle. Cardiff is the capital of Wales, located south of the mouths of the River Taff and River Ely on the Bristol Channel. In addition to being known as an industrial center, Cardiff is also known for its famous scenic spots. Let’s find out with Toplist the most beautiful historical sites in Cardiff!
National Museum Cardiff
The first position on the list of the most beautiful historical sites in Cardiff is the National Museum Cardiff. The museum is a member of Amgueddfa Cymru’s larger network of national museums in Wales. Funding from the Welsh Government keeps admission free, however, they do solicit donations all over the museum.
Following Edward I’s conquest of Wales in 1283, Caernarfon Castle’s construction started, and it was finally finished in 1330. The king surrounded the insurgent nation with an “iron ring” of fortresses, which included Caernarfon, Conwy, Harlech, and Beaumaris, to solidify his control over it. With elements evoking both Arthurian mythology and imperial Rome, Caernarfon Castle was a grand and imposing combination of the castle, royal residence, and political center.
The National Museum Cardiff now houses collections of biology, geology, fine and applied art, and botany. The St. Fagans National Museum of History now houses the archaeology division. Wales’ national art collections, which include everything from paintings and sketches to sculpture and ceramics, are displayed on the museum’s first floor. It houses one of the best Impressionist painting collections in Britain as well as contemporary works by top international artists.
Old Masters including Turner, Monet, Rodin, and Van Gogh, as well as traditional landscape paintings and artwork created by or commissioned by wealthy Welsh manufacturers during the last century, are all on show at the National Museum of Art, which opened in 2011. Francis Bacon and Pablo Picasso both created pieces of contemporary art.
Location: Cathays Park, Cardiff, Wales
Photo: museum.wales
Photo: viator.com
Castell Coch
A Victorian-era gimmick known as Castell Coch (Red Castle) was constructed on top of the remains of a castle from the 13th century that local Welsh ruler Ifor Bach is claimed to have owned. It is a magnificently painted castle that is situated in Tongwynlais to the north of Cardiff, Wales. As a result, it is usually chosen as the Welsh people’s preferred structure in the nation.
The Normans constructed the original castle on the location soon after conquering Cardiff in 1081. Soon after, it was given up. Gilbert de Clare built a new stone fortification between 1267 and 1277 using the foundations as his starting point. The native Welsh uprising of 1314 may have led to the castle’s destruction.
John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, purchased the crumbling castle in 1760 as part of a divorce settlement. The Castell Coch was passed down to John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute, in 1848. One of the richest men in Britain, he hired William Burges to erect the castle as a seasonal rural retreat. It has an opulent interior and a vineyard beneath the castle that made wine up until World War One.
The castle is currently always open to the public for tours, and it is frequently very busy. Additionally well-liked, the woodlands above the castle are frequently used for horseback riding, mountain biking, and walking. The site of the previous vineyard is now home to a nine-hole golf course.
Location: above the village of Tongwynlais in South Wales
Photo: visitwales.com
Photo: Pooky.com
St Fagans National History Museum
A Cardiff open-air museum tracing the historical way of life, culture, and architecture of the Welsh people, St Fagans National Museum of History is also known as St Fagans for the village where it is situated. The museum is a member of Amgueddfa Cymru’s larger network of national museums in Wales.
Following the Earl of Plymouth’s donation of the castle and its surrounding acres, the museum was established in 1946. In 1948, it became accessible to the general public as the Welsh Folk Museum. Since that time, the museum’s name has stayed the same in Welsh, but its English name has changed several times, first to the Museum of Welsh Life, then to St. Fagans National History Museum, and finally to its present name.
Iorwerth Peate came up with the idea for the museum, which was based on Skansen, Stockholm’s outdoor museum of traditional Swedish architecture. The majority of the structures rebuilt at Skansen were made of wood and can be disassembled and put back together with ease, but a corresponding museum in Wales was intended to be more complex.
There are frequently artisans there carrying out traditional tasks and hawking their wares, and the tools and objects inside these structures provide an accurate picture of how they would have been utilized in the past. Traditional festivals, music, and dance activities, and a number of displays of artifacts and historical things are also held throughout the year. St Fagans National History Museum is one of the most beautiful historical sites in Cardiff.
Location: St Fagans, Cardiff, Wales
Photo: tripadvisor.com.vn
The Royal Mint Experience
The Royal Mint Experience, which is based on the location of The Royal Mint in Llantrisant, South Wales, opened its doors in 2016 and traces the over 1,000-year history of coin manufacture.
Alfred the Great’s issuance of silver pennies in the latter part of the ninth century AD is widely cited as the Royal Mint’s founding event. Before this time, coins had been made in Britain, but Alfred’s pennies made it clear that they were made in London. This made the mint there a more recent forerunner of The Royal Mint, which was housed in the Tower of London for 800 years.
The Royal Mint Experience is home to an exhibition featuring a variety of rare coins and museum items as well as a Guided Factory Experience where visitors can watch thousands of freshly minted coins emerge from The Royal Mint’s coining presses. Olympic and Paralympic medals from the London 2012 Games are among them, as well as an intriguing gold sovereign from Edward VIII and an examination of the gallantry and service medals that have been given to people in the UK.
A guided tour of the circulating coin factory, where guests can also strike their own coins, is included in the specially constructed visitor attraction. The Royal Mint Experience also offers a wide range of events, such as exceptional guest lecturers and creative workshops.
Location: Llantrisant, Wales
Photo: gliffaeshotel.com
Photo: amamsterdam.nl
Welsh National War Memorial
One of the most beautiful historical sites in Cardiff is the Welsh National War Memorial. It is located in Cardiff’s Cathays Park’s Alexandra Gardens. The memorial was created by Sir Ninian Comper, and the Prince of Wales unveiled it on June 12, 1928. The memorial honors the military personnel who lost their lives in the First World War, and a plaque honoring those who died in the Second World War was added in 1949.
The Welsh National War Memorial is shaped like a colonnade that goes around a sunken court. Inscriptions in Welsh and English are found on the frieze above the columns, respectively. Comper wrote the English inscription himself. A trio of bronze sculptures is positioned around a stone pylon in the middle of the court. Three figures—a soldier, a sailor, and an airman—hold wreaths aloft as they stand around the base.
The memorial is Comper’s sole “secular” creation; he was mostly a church furnisher. He faced a lot of resistance because he was not a licensed architect, including from the president of the Royal Institute of British Architects and others, but the sculptors Sir William Goscombe John and Sir Hamo Thornycroft stood by him.
Location: Alexandra Gardens, Cathays Park, Cardiff, Wales
Photo: iwm.org.uk
Photo: victorianweb.org
Royal Arcade
In Cardiff, South Wales, there is a shopping complex called the Royal Arcade. The Royal Arcade, a Grade II listed building constructed in 1858, is Cardiff’s oldest arcade. A free library was established in Cardiff in 1861 through voluntary donations above the St. Mary Street entrance to the Royal Arcade. Before the turn of the century, the Cardiff School of Art operated out of spaces above the arcade, where J. M. Staniforth and Goscombe John were among the enrollees. It runs parallel to the Morgan Arcade but to the south, from The Hayes to St. Mary’s Street, and it passes directly underneath David Morgan’s department store.
The property assets contained within the different holding companies were sold to real estate company Helical Bar in late 2004 for £25 million following the mutually agreed-upon closure of David Morgan’s. The Cardiff Arcade Company Limited, David Morgan Limited, and Deymel Investments Limited are all now under liquidation.
Some of the original shopfronts from the Royal Arcade still exist today at numbers 29, 30, and 32 on St. Mary Street. A number of independently owned stores can still be found in the arcade, which runs directly across from the new St. David’s 2 development and is close to Cardiff Central Library. These stores include Wally’s Delicatessen, which has been in the arcade for 60 years, and those that specialize in Welsh textiles, gifts, and homeware.
Location: Cardiff, South Wales
Photo: tripadvisor.co.uk
Photo: pinterest.com
Cardiff Castle
The next position on the list of the most beautiful historical sites in Cardiff is the Cardiff Castle which first attracted the attention of the Romans in the middle of the first century and was the site of a series of Roman forts due to its easy access to the sea. On top of the Roman defenses, the Normans erected a motte-and-bailey stone castle in the 11th century, which still bears the impressive Keep.
Cardiff Castle was owned by a number of aristocratic families over the years, many of whom added to the complex, yet there were some conflicts. Cardiff Castle witnessed numerous Welsh uprisings in the 13th and 14th centuries, and during the Wars of the Roses in the 15th, it was continuously transferred between different owners.
The sumptuous rooms of Cardiff Castle are open to visitors today, and each one features a variety of intricate murals, wood carvings, gilding, marble, and stained glass. The magnificent shell of the Norman Keep still stands tall atop its motte, offering tourists a glimpse into the site’s medieval past and breathtaking panoramic views of the city.
Replicas of Cardiff Castle’s ancient Roman walls and its air-raid shelters from World War II can also be seen, representing the variety of the location’s 2000-year-old history. The Royal Regiment of Wales military museum is also housed on the property.
Location: Castle St, Cardiff CF10 3RB, Wales
Photo: lonelyplanet.com
Photo: wikidata.org
Source: https://top-list.co/top-most-beautiful-historical-sites-in-cardiff-v8414.html
Keyword: Top Most Beautiful Historical Sites in Cardiff