Thank you, MT. Yes, it was quite an unexpected gem for me and we enjoyed it very much. I appreciate your comments.

Thanks, randave2001. You are right - it is an amazing place. I appreciate your remarks.

Thank you, Longshadow.

Thank you for the kind words, William. Much appreciated.

Thank you, tcthome. Might be more info in there than most care to wade through, but I kind of got into the research on the history. I appreciate your comments.

Thank you, John. The Arab Room is pretty amazing. Glad it brought back some memories for you.

Thanks so much, Manglesphoto. Would have been a bit better with the descriptions.

Thank you, NMGal. Glad you enjoyed it.

Thank you, Dodie. I appreciate it.

Thanks, Mike. My apologies to all for the missing descriptions of each photo. My first post - rookie mistake.

They were:
The Clock Tower
Clock Tower detail
The Lioness
The Lynx
The Bear
The Keep
Ceiling of the Arab Room (impressive memory, John N!)
Mural in Banqeting Room (seige of Wilton Abbey by Robert of Glouster)
Mural in Banqueting Room
Castle from inner courtyard

These were taken in August, 2023, on a tour through the UK and Ireland. I didn't expect to enjoy touring the castle as much as I did.

The original castle was built in the late 11th century by the Normans on top of a Roman fort from the 3rd century. It was rebuilt with stone in the 12th century and further work conducted in the second half of the 13th century. It was repeatedly involved in conflicts between the Anglo-Normans and the Welsh in the 12th century and stormed early in the 15th century. Further work on the castle was done later in the 15th century. During the English Civil War, the castle was initially taken by a Parliamentary (fighting against Charles I) then retaken by the Royalist (fighting in favor of Charles I) in 1645. The castle passed into the hands of the Stuart dynasty, Marquesses of Bute. Extensive renovations were conducted, demolishing many of the older medieval buildings and walls. In the latter half of the 19th century, the 3rd Marquess of Bute, who was widely considered the richest man in the world, remodeled the castle in a Gothic revival style with large amounts of money that transformed the interior designs such that they were considered to be amongst "the most magnificent that the gothic revival ever achieved." In addition, the castle grounds were relandscaped and the walls and gatehouse reconstructed in a Roman style. One of the interesting aspects of the walls is the Animal Wall. It depicts 15 animal carvings at the west entrance of the castle. I was able to get pictures of three of them, shown below. There were originally 9 animal carvings (I didn't get pictures of the hyena, wolf, the pair of baboons, a seal and the pair of lions) done in the late 1880s. In 1931, when the wall was moved due to road widening, an additonal 6 more animals were added (I didn't get pictures of the pelican, the anteater, a pair of raccoons, a leopard, a beaver and a vulture.) By the time of WW2, little was left of the Bute lands commercial interests, having been sold off or nationalized. During WW2, extensive air raid shelters that could hld up to 1,800 people were built into the castle walls. After the death of the 4th Marquess in 1947, the castle was given to the City of Cardiff.

The interior of the castle was amazing. I hope to post a few more pictures of this beautiful castle in the next few days.

It's such a pleasure to see your posts with the information about what you saw along with the pictures and descriptions. And yes, they do have amazing ceilings in Europe! Thanks again for sharing. If it's a place we've been, it brings back great memories; if it's a place we haven't been, it makes me want to go there too.

Very nice. I still haven't gotten mine processed from when we were there last year, but when I do, no matter how well I process them, they won't look as stunning as yours. The ceiling is beautiful, that's for sure. Thanks for taking us on your wonderful tour.

Wow. I know those lakes in northern Italy are really beautiful. That would be nice - hardly any other tourists around. When we were in Rome last year at the end of the cruise, it was so crowded it was hard to enjoy the great sites there. I would still like to spend more time in northern Italy - we loved Florence - and my wife loves Tuscany. Umbria is very nice as well, and I'd love to visit Cinque Terre again, but would also like to visit southern Italy too. So many places, so little time!

I'd love to do that drive around Italy. Nice that you could connect with family there and the dual citizenship is pretty intriguing.