People have lived in Cardiff since prehistory, but the city's story really begins with the Romans, who invaded Britain in AD43. The capital takes its name from the Roman general Aulus Didius – Caer Didi means "Fort of Didius". The Roman rule ended in the 5th century AD. By the next century England was overrun by Saxons. By the year 850, the Welsh coast was being raided by Vikings. Within 20 years of the Battle of Hastings in 1066, the Normans were marching on Wales, with William the Conquer himself visiting Cardiff in 1081. In 1091 Robert FitzHamon began work on Cardiff Castle and a small settlement grew up around it. This was an English town in a hostile Welsh territory. Owain Glyndwr, the great Welsh rebel leader, razed Cardiff in 1404. In 1542 Thomas Capper is burnt at the stake in Cardiff for heresy and becomes the first religious martyr in Wales. By the Elizabethan times Cardiff was a lawless, pirate-infested port. In 1608 King James I granted a Royal Charter to the town. By the 18th century it was a sleepy backwater of 1,500 people straggling around the decaying castle.

The Industrial Revolution changed everything. In the 1790s the local gentry, the Butes, built the Glamorganshire Canal to join Cardiff with Merthyr Tydfil, followed by the first Cardiff dock in 1839. A rail link between Cardiff and the coal producing areas of Wales was built between 1845 and 1850. Cardiff became the biggest coal-exporting port in the world. At its peak in 1913, more than 13 million tons of coal left here. Cardiff was granted city status by Edward VII and in 1955 it was proclaimed capital of Wales. Today, Cardiff is Europe’s most dynamic capital city, constantly surprising visitors with its grace, space and cosmopolitan buzz. It’s a great place to visit and the ideal base from which to explore the coast, culture and heritage of Wales and western Britain.

Museum of Welsh life

The Museum of Welsh Life, which stands on the grounds of St. Fagan’s Castle, is said to be one of Europe’s foremost open air museums. The Museum shows how the people of Wales lived, worked and spent their leisure time over the last five hundred years. The ground floor of the castle is also open to visitors.

The 100-acre museum now has over thirty original buildings, moved there from various parts of Wales and re-erected to show how the people of Wales lived at various times in history. The buildings include a school, a chapel and a splendid Workmen's Institute as well as several workshops where craftsmen, such as the blacksmith and the cooper, demonstrate their skills to the public. There are also large indoor galleries displaying exhibitions of costume, daily life and farming implements. Traditional festivals and customs and music and dance events are staged throughout the year. Local breeds of livestock are available to be seen in the fields and farmyards, and regular demonstrations of farming tasks take place daily.

Cardiff National Museum and Gallery

This is an all in one museum that shows not only art treasures from Wales’ past, but also exhibits displaying the land’s natural history. The archeology section shows artifacts ranging from mammoth teeth to medieval Celtic coins and cannon balls, as well as exhibits from the Roman and Viking eras. The National Gallery section had a fine collection of Welsh, English, and European art, including examples of ceramics and porcelain. There is also a good science section, with rock and dinosaur fossil samples on display.

Cardiff Castle

Cardiff Castle, laying in the heart of the town, started during the arrival of the Normans with the construction of the keep. Other medieval fortifications and dwellings were added throughout the subsequent centuries. It was held by a succession of noble, English families. During the English Civil War of the mid 17th Century, it was held by a family in sympathy with Parliament, but was taken by the crown and held for most of the rest of the conflict. The Brute family, in the 19th Century, restored the castle and turned it into a sumptuous home fit for a rich, noble family, a neo gothic style dream palace like something out of a fairy tale. In 1947, the castle passed to the Cardiff government and is now run and preserved by the Cardiff Council.

The visitor will be dazzled by the interior of the castle, with its artwork along the themes of astrological symbols, nature's creatures, the pleasures of the seasons, biblical characters dressed in gilt robes, Moorish designs, and heraldic features. Flowing fountains, rich greenery and incredible marble fireplaces accentuate the astounding effect of the Brutes' medievalist yearnings.

A great evening excursion is the traditional Welsh banquet that is held in the undercroft. Fine mead and wine is served with a traditional four course Welsh feast. Costumed performers sing traditional Welsh ballads to the sound of the harp. One can also take a special evening tour of the castle’s apartments, including three rooms in the famous Clock Tower, before the feast.

Llandaff Cathedral

Nestled in a grassy hollow near Llandaff Green, the cathedral is on the site of a 6th century religious community founded by St. Teilo, Bishop of South Wales. Unlike most Welsh churches, Llandaff is not named after a saint, but rather the area in which it is located. The name translates as "Church on the River Taff." The cathedral was begun in the 12th century but rebuilt and modified over and over again throughout its history. During a bleak, terrible night in January, 1941, a huge German mine exploded, destroying much of the cathedral. It was not until the 1960's that restoration was completed.

The greater part of the present cathedral, including the nave and chancel arcades, the West front and the chapter house was completed in 1250. They were quickly followed by the Lady Chapel, which was erected during the bishopric of William de Braose. Llandaff is unique among the cathedrals of Britain as having no transepts A great deal of strengthening and rebuilding then took place in the 14th century which lasted over 300 years.

During the 1960s restoration, the striking parabolic concrete arch that so dominates the interior of the cathedral was completed by George Pace, surmounted by a cylindrical organ case bearing a huge Christ in Majesty worked in unpolished aluminum, by world-renowned sculptor Jacob Epstein. Behind the high altar, the great Norman arch built by Bishop Urban in 1120 is also dominant. The tomb of St. Teilo was restored in the 19th century. Of further interest are the Illtyd Chapel, dedicated to the memory of the 53rd Welsh Infantry Division; the Rossetti Triptych, a painting by Murillo Madonna and Child, the Teilo Chapel, the Lady Chapel, and the lovely stained glass windows from some of Britain's most distinguished post-war craftsmen and artists. Also on display is a relic of the pre-Norman church, a 10th century Celtic Cross that was hidden from Cromwell's soldiers but rediscovered in 1870 as part of a wall and now situated in the south aisle. In 1992 a new peal of thirteen bells was placed in the northwest tower with each bell named after a Celtic saint.

Visiting Cardiff

The airport is about twelve miles from the city center and is serviced by flights from other cities within the UK and Europe. There are excellent train connections from such places as London. Both the regional and local bus lines use the central bus station.