Caernarfon Castle

Caernarfon Castle, stronghold situated on the north-west coast of Wales, facing Anglesey. It is one of six massive fortresses built by Edward I, and his architect-engineer Master James of St George, to secure his conquests in Wales and is among the best-known castles in Great Britain. Work on the castle began in 1283. Its design, like that of others in this chain (see Conwy Castle and Harlech Castle), owes much to Edward's extensive military experience in Europe and on crusade in the Near East. As a group they mark a high point in Western castle building.

Both in its purpose and its design, however, Caernarfon differs considerably from Edward I's other Welsh fortresses, functioning not only as a military structure but also as a propagandist symbol of Edward's regal and divine authority. According to old Welsh tradition, Constantine the Great, the first Christian Emperor of Rome, was born there. The unusual polygonal design of the turrets (all the other castles have circular turrets) and the decoratively banded masonry walls closely reflect the design of the 5th-century landwalls of Constantinople, thought to have been built by Constantine himself.

The discovery of the supposed bones of Constantine's father, Constantius Chlorus, in Caernarfon the same year that work started on the castle reinforced the belief in this connection. Edward ensured that his son, the future Edward II, was born there (in 1284), and had him presented to the Welsh people as the Prince of Wales, a tradition that has persisted to the present day; the investiture of Prince Charles took place in Caernarfon Castle in 1969.