Cardiff - National Museum

Cardiff is the capital and, with around 370,000 inhabitants, the most populous city in Wales.

In 1081, William the Conqueror had a castle built on the remains of a Roman fort. The first mention of Cardiff dates back to 1093, when the knight Robert Fitzhamon, a follower of William, was entrusted with a fief here. Cardiff was granted city rights in the 13th century, but remained a relatively small town.

In 1404, Owain Glyndŵr, a Welsh leader who led a 15-year Welsh revolt against English rule in Wales, burned Cardiff to the ground and took possession of the castle. The settlement was rebuilt. In 1538, Henry VIII closed the Dominican and Franciscan monasteries of Cardiff, the remains of which were used as building materials.

In the 19th century, the city experienced an unexpected growth spurt thanks to industrialisation and coal mining. The harbour was expanded and developed into the largest coal port in the world.

When the museum was founded, it had been collecting artefacts for 25 years. A predecessor institution called the Cardiff Museum of Natural History, Arts and Antiquities opened its first premises in 1882. Plans for the construction of a new building took many years before the foundation stone of the current museum building was laid in 1912. It was not fully completed until 1932.


Claude Monet / 1840 – 1926
Waterlilies / 1905