Caernarfon Castle

Caernarfon, situated on the Menai Strait opposite the Isle of Anglesey, dates back to a Roman fortress from the first century AD.

According to tradition, the residence of Rhodri Mawr (aka Rhodri the Great) was located in the settlement known in Welsh as Caer Seiont as early as the 9th century. A first castle was built by the Normans as a motte around 1090. The castle was conquered by the Welsh in 1115, after which it remained in the possession of the Princes of Gwynedd.

During his second campaign against Gwynedd, King Edward I reached Caernarfon from Chester in May 1283. The previous Welsh settlement was destroyed, the inhabitants expelled and construction of the castle began the same year. Together with Beaumaris Castle on Anglesey, the castle controlled this strategically important waterway between the west and north Wales coasts.

The castle was built as a symbol of English rule over the defeated Welsh. The town walls and the castle fortifications formed a single unit, with the castle playing a key role in defence as the seat of the governor and garrison.