A brute of a fortress. Caernarfon Castle’s pumped-up appearance is unashamedly muscle-bound and intimidating. Picking a fight with this massive structure would have been a daunting prospect. By throwing his weight around in stone, King Edward I created what is surely one of the most impressive of Wales’s castles. Worthy of World Heritage status no less.

Most castles are happy with round towers, not Caernarfon! Polygonal towers were the order of the day, with the Eagle Tower being the most impressive of these. You will also note the colour-coded stones carefully arranged in bands.

The site of this great castle wasn’t chosen by accident. It had previously been the location of a Norman motte and bailey castle and before that a Roman fort stood nearby. The lure of water and easy access to the sea made the banks of the River Seiont an ideal spot for Edward’s monster in masonry.

Edward wasn’t one to miss an opportunity to tighten his grip even further on the native population. The birth of his son, the first English Prince of Wales, in the castle in 1284, was a perfect device to stamp his supremacy. In 1969, the investiture of the current Prince of Wales, HRH Prince Charles took place here.

Caernarfon is one of eight sites chosen by Cadw as a hub for community projects in support of the Cultural Olympiad celebrations in Wales
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Cawres o gaer. Mae cadernid anhygoel Castell Caernarfon yn bresenoldeb bygythiol. Byddai ymosod ar y strwythur enfawr hwn wedi bod yn syniad brawychus. Drwy ddefnyddio carreg i bwysleisio ei awdurdod, creodd y Brenin Edward I un o’r cestyll mwyaf trawiadol yng Nghymru. Yn gwbl haeddiannol o statws Treftadaeth y Byd.

Tyrau crwn sy’n nodweddu’r rhan fwyaf o gestyll, ond nid Caernarfon! Tyrau polygon a welir yma, gyda Thŵr yr Eryr yn goron arnynt. Sylwch hefyd ar y ffordd mae’r cerrig wedi’u trefnu’n ofalus mewn bandiau lliw.

Nid ar ddamwain y dewiswyd lleoliad y castell mawreddog hwn. Castell mwnt a beili Normanaidd a welwyd ar y safle yn flaenorol, a chyn hynny safai caer Rufeinig gerllaw. Roedd atynfa’r dŵr a mynediad hawdd i’r môr yn golygu bod glannau Afon Seiont yn fan delfrydol ar gyfer y cawr hwn o gastell a adeiladwyd gan Edward.

Nid oedd Edward yn un i golli cyfle i atgyfnerthu ei afael ar y boblogaeth frodorol. Roedd genedigaeth ei fab, Tywysog Seisnig cyntaf Cymru, yn y castell yn 1284, yn ffordd berffaith o ddangos ei oruchafiaeth. Yn 1969, cafodd Tywysog presennol Cymru, EUB Tywysog Siarl ei arwisgo yma.

Mae Castell Caernarfon yn un o wyth safle a ddewiswyd gan Cadw fel canolfan ar gyfer prosiectau cymunedol i gefnogi dathliadau’r Olympiad Diwylliannol yng Nghymru