Have Camera Will Travel | Places HomepageHave Camera Will Travel | Places

David Coleman Photography

  • Places
  • Washington DC
  • Cherry Blossoms
  • Tips & Tricks
  • Photos
  • Africa
    • Tanzania
  • Americas
    • Mexico
    • Guatemala
    • Nicaragua
    • Panama
    • United States
      • Washington DC
        • Cherry Blossoms
    • Argentina
    • Chile
    • The Caribbean
    • Canada
  • Antarctica
  • Asia
    • Myanmar (Burma)
    • Vietnam
    • Laos
    • Japan
  • Australasia
    • Australia
    • Vanuatu
  • Europe
    • Denmark
    • Norway
    • Turkey
    • Belgium
    • Greece
    • United Kingdom
      • England
      • Wales
    • Czech Republic
    • Austria
    • Portugal
    • Poland
    • Italy
    • Germany
    • France
    • Russia

Caernarfon Castle

Caernarfon, Gwynedd, Wales

Caernarfon Castle River Seiont From Above

Wales // Caernarfon Wales· Castles & Palaces· Gwynedd Wales· UNESCO World Heritage Sites Location: [post_gps_latitude], [post_gps_longitude]

For a 13th century fortress, Caernarfon Castle has a surprising attention to style. It’s one of a string of castles that King Edward I of England built or upgraded in northwest Wales in the late 13th century as part of a concerted program to exert English rule over the Welsh. All of them are marvels of security and sturdiness. But each is quite different.

These Edwardian castles in Wales were always meant to be about strength, defense, and being outwardly imposing, not about luxury. They were primarily fortresses, not palaces. They were, above all, symbols of English power.

But Caernarfon was envisaged as something special. It was designed to accommodate not only a royal household but also to serve as a seat of regional power.1

Building for the castle began in 1283 on a site that had been used for Roman forts for at least a thousand years before that. Construction was halted in about 1330. Not that it was complete, per se. But it was considered complete enough.

The exterior walls of the castle at Caernarfon are perhaps the best preserved of all of the surviving castles. They’re also the most distinctive, featuring unusual polygonal towers that suggest not just strength but also innovative engineering.

And they’ve worn the centuries remarkably well. From the outside, across the water of the river Seiont, the castle looks complete, imposing, and like something out of a storybook. It has all the romanticism of a castle from the Middle Ages, guarding over the town in its shadow.

As intricate as it may look from the outside, inside the walls it looks quite different. Over time, much of the interior of the castle was either incomplete or gutted. But that also helps lend a strong sense of history and authenticity. It is a romanticism of a different flavor. And the interior is still certainly considered fit for a (future) king. It has been used for the investitures of two princes of Wales: in 1911 for the future Edward VIII and in 1969 for Prince Charles, the current Prince of Wales. They continued a long tradition. The first English prince of Wales was born within the walls centuries earlier.1

Photos of Caernarfon Castle

Caernarfon Castle Cannons

Caernarfon Castle Panorama Inside the Walls

Caernarfon Castle Slate Throne

Caernarfon Castle Welsh Flag

Caernarfon Castle Warning Sign

Caernarfon Castle Cannon Detail

Caernarfon Castle Parapet

Caernarfon Castle Water Well

Caernarfon Castle Panorama Interior Courtyard

Caernarfon Castle Door and Room

Caernarfon Castle Outside the Walls

Caernarfon Castle Diorama

Caernarfon Castle Gatehouse

Caernarfon Castle inside the Walls

Caernarfon Castle Stairway

Caernarfon Castle Narrow Wooden Door

Caernarfon Castle Ramparts

Caernarfon Castle Arched Doorway

Caernarfon Castle Walkway

Caernarfon Castle Interior Room

Caernarfon Castle Interior Walls

Caernarfon Castle Drawbridge

Caernarfon Castle Panorama Dais

Caernarfon Castle Anglesey Pub

Caernarfon Castle Tower with Stormy Clouds

Caernarfon Castle Stone

Caernarfon Castle Window with Pigeons

Caernarfon Castle Inside Courtyard From Above

Caernarfon Castle Parapet against Clouds

Caernarfon Castle Outside Walls and River

Caernarfon Castle Oak Door and Lock

Caernarfon Castle Panorama

Caernarfon Castle Eagle Tower

Caernarfon Castle Stairway Down

Caernarfon Castle Walls

Caernarfon Castle Interior Corridor

Caernarfon Castle Town Rooftops

Caernarfon Castle Courtyard

Caernarfon Castle Turrets

Caernarfon Castle Window Looking Out

Visiting

Caernarfon Castle’s Official Website | Visitor Information


  1. Arnold Taylor, Caernarfon Castle and Town Walls (Cardiff: Cadw, Welsh Assembly Government, 2004). ↩ ↩

Where to Next?

  • Conwy Castle (Conway Castle) in Wales
    Conwy Castle
  • Harlech Castle Panorama at Dusk.
    Harlech Castle
  • Moat at Kronborg Castle at Helsingor, Denmark
    Kronborg Castle / Hamlet's Castle
  • Downton Abbey's Highclere Castle 156-08343717x
    Highclere Castle
  • Chapel at Kronborg Castle at Helsingor, Denmark
    Kronborg Castle's Chapel
  • tapestries at Kronborg Castle at Helsingor, Denmark
    Kronborg Castle's Royal Apartments
  • Holger the Dane Statue at Kronborg Castle at Helsingor, Denmark
    Holger the Dane at Kronborg Castle
  • Stained Glass Windows of Greek Goddesses at Chapultepec Castle in Mexico City
    Chapultepec Castle (Mexico's National Museum of History)
  • Seafaring Culture Exhibit at the Maritime Museum of Denmark
    Maritime Museum of Denmark

David Coleman Photography

I take photos. I travel. I write. I do it for a living. Seven continents. Dozens of countries. Up mountains. Under water. And a bunch of places in between. You can find my main site at havecamerawilltravel.com. Or check out what’s in my go-to travel photography kit. Or get in touch here.


Location:
Country: Wales
Coordinates:
      Latitude:
      Longitude:

      # Caernarfon Wales
      # Castles & Palaces
      # Gwynedd Wales
      # UNESCO World Heritage Sites



About David Coleman

I take photos. I travel. I write. I do it for a living.

I’m based in Washington, DC.

You can find my photography gear reviews and tips at havecamerawilltravel.com/photographer.

David Coleman Photography

I take photos. I travel. I write. I do it for a living. Seven continents. Dozens of countries. Up mountains. Under water. And a bunch of places in between. You can find my main site at havecamerawilltravel.com. Or check out what’s in my go-to travel photography kit. Or get in touch here.

Licensing & Prints

Looking for travel stock photos or prints? I might be able to help. You can search my collection here:

If you already have a buyer account with Alamy and would prefer to use that, you can search my images directly here.

Get in Touch

Member

© 2009–2021 David Coleman · Have Camera Will Travel LLC · all rights reserved


Photos by David Coleman. Please contact me for licensing images.
All images are registered with the U.S. Copyright Office.


Privacy & Disclosure · Cookie Declaration · Disclaimer · Terms of Service · Copyright · Contact


XML Sitemap