capital of Wales

The Capital of Wales is a de facto designation usually applied to Cardiff since 1955. In that year, the Minister for Welsh Affairs Gwilym Lloyd-George commented in a Parliamentary written answer that "no formal measures are necessary to give effect to this decision".

Cardiff is also the current seat of the National Assembly for Wales.

Other places that are associated with the title are:

• Strata Florida, the Cistercian abbey where Llywelyn the Great held council in 1238.

• Machynlleth, where Owain Glyndŵr held a parliament in 1404.

• Ludlow, England, seat of the Council of Wales and the Marches from 1473 to 1689.

• St David's, the de facto ecclesiastical capital and birthplace of Saint David, the patron saint of Wales.

The National Library of Wales is located in none of these, instead being sited in Aberystwyth.