Capital of Wales

The current capital of Wales is Cardiff, which was first referred to as such in 1955, when Gwilym Lloyd-George, then Minister for Welsh Affairs commented in a Parliamentary written answer that "no formal measures are necessary to give effect to this decision".^[1] The Encyclopedia of Wales notes that the decision to recognise the city as the capital of Wales "had more to do with the fact that it contained marginal Conservative constituencies than any reasoned view of what functions a Welsh capital should have".

History

Although the city hosted the Commonwealth Games in 1958, Cardiff only became a centre of national administration with the establishment of the Welsh Office in 1964, which later prompted the creation of various other public bodies such as the Arts Council of Wales and the Welsh Development Agency, most of which were based in Cardiff. Since 1999, Cardiff has been the location of the National Assembly for Wales.

In the past, other places have been regarded as the Welsh capital, including

• Strata Florida Abbey, the Cistercian abbey where Llywelyn the Great held council in 1238.
• Machynlleth, where Owain Glyndŵr held a parliament in 1404.^[2]
• Ludlow, England, seat of the Council of Wales and the Marches from 1473 to 1689.^[3]

The ecclesiastical capital of Wales is St Davids, the resting place of the country's patron saint, Saint David.

The National Library of Wales is located in Aberystwyth.^[4]

References