Wales has a long history dating back to Roman times. Key events include Edward I's conquest of Wales in the 13th century and the Acts of Union with England. Welsh culture is centered around myths of King Arthur and the Mabinogion tales. The Welsh language remains an important part of national identity, though only 19% of the population can speak it. Popular tourist attractions include numerous historic castles as well as museums showcasing Welsh industry and culture. Traditional Welsh symbols include the leek, daffodil, red dragon flag, and the harp as the national instrument. Annual cultural festivals like Hay Festival and the National Eisteddfod celebrate Welsh arts and literature.

1. WALES

2. HISTORY OF WALES

3. History
 48AD arrival of the Romans on Welsh borders
 Celtic language – Brythonic Welsh
 784. Offa builds a dyke from sea to sea
 1283. Edward 1 orders the building of castles in Wales
 he built 17 castles 400
 1400. Owain Glyndŵr begins his rebellion against King Henry IV
 1536. the first Act of Union was passed between England and Wales

4. History
 1856. Evan James and James James of Pontypridd compose 'Hen Wlad Fy
Nhadau' (Land of my Fathers)
 1916. David Lloyd George becomes the first Welsh Prime Minister of the UK
 1955. Cardiff is officially declared capital of Wales
 1999. The Millennium Stadium in Cardiff opens
 2004. Her Majesty the Queen opens the Wales Millenium centre

5. The Wales Millenium centre

6. Myths and legends

7. King Arthur
 regularly appears in mythology and
folklore
 leading source of Arthurian literature
 The County - world’s largest
collection of books on Arthur
 name Arthur - Welsh word ‘arth’,
meaning bear

8. Mabinogion
 collection of medieval tales dating back a
thousand years
 regarded by many as a masterpiece of
medieval literature
 tales are set in a magical landscape and
are full of white horses, giants, beautiful
women and heroic men
Ceridwen by Christopher Williams,
(1910)
The Two Kings (sculptor Ivor
Robert- Jones, 1984) near
Harlech Castle,

9. Beddgelert
"In the 13th century Llewelyn, prince of North Wales, had a palace at Beddgelert. One day he
went hunting without Gelert, ‘The Faithful Hound’, who was unaccountably absent.
On Llewelyn's return the truant, stained and smeared with blood, joyfully sprang to meet his
master. The prince alarmed hastened to find his son, and saw the infant's cot empty, the
bedclothes and floor covered with blood.
The frantic father plungedhis sword into the hound'sside, thinking it had killed his heir. The
dog's dying yell was answered by a child's cry.
Llewelyn searched and discovered his boy unharmed, but nearbylay the body of a mighty wolf
which Gelert had slain. The prince filled with remorse is said never to have smiled again. He
buried Gelert here".

10. Beddgelert
 The village of Beddgelert (Gelerts
grave) owes its name to this site

11. Castles

12. Caerphilly Castle
 the largest castle in Europe
 tower which out leans the Italian
Tower of Pisa

13. Castell Coch
 the Red castle
 was built and designed in the 19th century

14. Caernarfon
Castle
 Built by Edward I, Caernarfon is one of
Europe’s great medieval fortresses
 1 July 1969 - Charles Windsor was made
the Prince of Wales

15. Cardiff Castle
 one of Wales’s biggest tourist attractions
 established by the Normans in 1106.

16. Welsh Language (Cymraeg)
 Half a million people in Wales can speak Welsh; 19% of the population
 one of Europe’s oldest living languages
 Welsh Language Act of 1993.
 Public bodies use Welsh as an official language
 local newspapers in Welsh,Welsh television channel
 a compulsory subject for all pupils up to the age of 16

17. Welsh phrases

18.  One of Wales' best known place names is:
Llanfairpwllgwingyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllandysiliogogogoch,58 leters
 It translates as;
The Church of St Mary in the hollow of the white hazel near the rapid whirlpool and the church of
St Tysilio near a red cave.

19. National symbols of Wales

20. The Leek
 St David advised the Britons on the eve of a battle with the Saxons, to wear leeks
in their caps
 People wear it on St David's Day
 celebrated on 1 March each year

21. The Daffodil
 Welsh for leek is Cenhinen, while the Welsh for daffodil is Cenhinen Pedr
 daffodil was adopted as a second emblem of Wales

22. The Welsh Flag
 The Red Dragon (or in Welsh Y Ddraig Goch) - was granted official status in 1959
 associated with Wales for centuries
 used by King Arthur

23. The Harp
 national instrument of Wales
 18. century the triple harp was
known as the Welsh harp

24. MUSEUMS

25. National Museum Cardiff
 largest collection of Impressionist
and Post-Impressionist paintings
outside Paris
 Renoir's famous 'Blue Lady, Rodin's
'The Kiss' and Monet's 'Water lilies'

26. Big Pit: National Coal Museum
 Gulbenkian Prize for Museum of the
Year in 2005
 real coal mine run by real miners

27. National Wool Museum
 the story of Wales's historically important wool industry
 carding, spinning and sewing your own wool

28. Festivals & cultural events

29. The Hay Festival
 world’s most famous literary and arts festival
 ‘the Woodstock of the mind’
 crossed literature with cinema, circus,
comedy,film, music, politics, science

30. National Eisteddfod of Wales
 a cultural, artistic festival
 one of the largest festivals in Europe
 over 170,000 visitors

31. Famous people From Wales
 Iwan Rheon,
30
• Roald Dahl
(1916.-1990.)
• Cathereine
Zeta Jones,46
• Anthony
Hopkins,77
• Bonnie Tyler, 64
• Christian Bale,
41