Caernarfon, Wales
The year 1282 is the most unforgettable date in Welsh history, comparable to 1066 for the English or 1492 for the Spanish. In that year Llywelyn, the last native Prince of Wales was killed in battle at Cilmeri, his body dismembered and his head displayed on a spike at the Tower of London. To ensure that the Welsh would never again stand in the way of English ambitions, a ring of castles was erected around Gwynedd, Llywelyn's mountain fastness. The most impressive of these castles is that of Caernarfon, built by the premier military engineer of the day, Master James of St George. He came originally from Savoy and had constructed the town walls of Constantinople, the designs of which he imitated at Caernarfon. This ring of castles, now a Unesco World Heritage Site, were constructed by order of Edward I, who invested his eldest son with the title Prince of Wales, a title that persons occupying that position in the royal pecking-order have used ever since. In 1969, the ceremony was revived at the suggestion of a government anxious at the rapid increase in home rule sentiment in the country and, following television coverage of the event, visitor numbers at Caernarfon soared. The castle thus serves both to attract tourists to the country and as a reminder of colonial subjugation.
Architects and landscape gardeners held our attention for the remainder of the day. At Bodnant, the garden of Lord Aberconway was ablaze with spring colors, as azaleas competed with magnolias and the ubiquitous rhododendron. Sir Clough Williams-Ellis's Italianate fantasy at Portmeirion was built in protest at modernism. The current heir to the English throne, invested at Caernarfon, would be supremely happy in either place.
The year 1282 is the most unforgettable date in Welsh history, comparable to 1066 for the English or 1492 for the Spanish. In that year Llywelyn, the last native Prince of Wales was killed in battle at Cilmeri, his body dismembered and his head displayed on a spike at the Tower of London. To ensure that the Welsh would never again stand in the way of English ambitions, a ring of castles was erected around Gwynedd, Llywelyn's mountain fastness. The most impressive of these castles is that of Caernarfon, built by the premier military engineer of the day, Master James of St George. He came originally from Savoy and had constructed the town walls of Constantinople, the designs of which he imitated at Caernarfon. This ring of castles, now a Unesco World Heritage Site, were constructed by order of Edward I, who invested his eldest son with the title Prince of Wales, a title that persons occupying that position in the royal pecking-order have used ever since. In 1969, the ceremony was revived at the suggestion of a government anxious at the rapid increase in home rule sentiment in the country and, following television coverage of the event, visitor numbers at Caernarfon soared. The castle thus serves both to attract tourists to the country and as a reminder of colonial subjugation.
Architects and landscape gardeners held our attention for the remainder of the day. At Bodnant, the garden of Lord Aberconway was ablaze with spring colors, as azaleas competed with magnolias and the ubiquitous rhododendron. Sir Clough Williams-Ellis's Italianate fantasy at Portmeirion was built in protest at modernism. The current heir to the English throne, invested at Caernarfon, would be supremely happy in either place.
