At first sight Cardiff does not seem to be very old, and the medieval castle in the centre of the city looks rather like anachronism. Nevertheless Cardiff castle has been standing on its hill for 10 centuries already and does not pay any attention to the changing urban landscape out of its walls. It has seen so much in the last century - German bombing, rock concerts, annual balls of the Cardiff university... Though the walls themselves may surprise tourists indeed by their Norman restraint and posh Victorian interiors.
One may enter the territory of the castle through its massive, seemingly restored gates. A ticket costs 11 pounds - it includes a short film about the history of the castle, visit of the fortress, military museum and bomb shelters. The tower can be visited, unfortunately, only in a separate excurssion.
Here you may take photos for your favourite social network - adult and children's stocks.
Visitors are met by Welsh red dragons
According to the data that historians have, the Romans were the first who built the fortified tower in the middle of the 1st century.
After the fall of the Roman Empire, the fort had been lying in ruins till the arrival of the Normans in the XI century. The conqueror of the South Wales, Norman knight Robert Fatzhamon erected the wooden fortress here in 1091.
In the XII century the new owner of the castle (son Henry I) ordered to build a better stone fortress in a typical Norman style.
The Norman fortress has undergone not so many changes and was preserved in quite a good, almost original condition.
View at the city hall from the castle tower.
In the XV century there appeared a separate mansion on the castle territory, it became the home of the castle owners.
In the XIX century the mansion was fully restored in the Medieval style as Marquess Bute and architect Willian Burges saw it.
The brightest peculiarity of the castle became the Tower Clock decorated with arms and figurines personifying the sun and planets.
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