Cardiff Tourist Guide
Cardiff (Welsh: Caerdydd) is the capital and largest city of Wales. Located on the south coast of the country it is administered as a unitary authority. It is in the historic county of Glamorgan. It was a small town until the early nineteenth century and came to prominence as a major port for the transport of coal following the arrival of industry in the region. It eventually grew to become the largest city in Wales and serves as a major centre of culture, sport and history in the United Kingdom. Cardiff was made a city in 1905, proclaimed capital of Wales in 1955. Cardiff is bordered to the west by the rural district known as the Vale of Glamorgan, to the east by the city of Newport, to the north by the South Wales Valleys and to the south by the Bristol Channel.
Cardiff Tourist Guide – Situation
Cardiff is situated near to the Glamorgan Heritage Coast, stretching westward from Penarth and Barry (which are commuter towns of Cardiff), with its striped yellow-blue Jurassic “lias” limestone cliffs that thrust outwards towards the Bristol Channel. The Glamorgan coast is the only part of the Celtic Sea that has exposed Jurassic (blue lias) geology. This west facing stretch of coast, which takes the brunt of brutal Atlantic westerlies and has reefs, sandbanks and serrated cliffs aplenty (like Cornwall) was a ship graveyard during the age of sail; ships sailing up to Cardiff during the industrial era often never made it as far as Cardiff as most were wrecked around this hostile coastline during brutal west/south-westerly gales. Consequently, just like its Celtic cousin in Cornwall, smuggling, deliberate shipwrecking and attacks on ships became a way of life for many people living in the small coastal villages of the Vale.
Cardiff Tourist Guide – Cardiff Bay
Cardiff’s port, known as Tiger Bay, became the busiest port in the world and – for some time – the world’s most important coal port. After a long period of neglect as Cardiff Bay, it is now being regenerated as a popular area for arts, entertainment and night-life. Much of the growth has been thanks to the building of the Cardiff Barrage. Cardiff has a strong and varied culture, with sites varying from the historical Cardiff Castle and out of town Castell Coch to the more modern Wales Millennium Centre and Cardiff Bay which have raised the cities cultural profile considerably as a major tourist destination in the UK. It is also one of the UK’s principal tourist destinations after London and Edinburgh, attracting over 11 million tourists in 2005. Cardiff was a finalist in the European Capital of Culture 2008.
Cardiff Tourist Guide – Attractions
Cardiff Castle is a major tourist attraction in the city and is situated in the heart of the city centre, near to the main shopping streets of Queen St and St Mary’s St. Other major tourist attractions are the Cardiff Bay regeneration sites which include the recently opened Wales Millennium Centre and the National Assembly for Wales and many other cultural and sites of interest including the Cardiff Bay Barrage and the famous Coal Exchange. The New Theatre was founded in 1906 and completely refurbished in the 1980s. Until the opening of the Wales Millennium Centre in 2004, it was the premier venue in Wales for touring theatre and dance companies, and is located in the city centre. Other venues which are popular for gigs include Cardiff International Arena and the Millennium Stadium.
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