Conwy (city)
| Conwy | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 |
|||
| Coordinates | 53 ° 17 ′ N , 3 ° 50 ′ W | ||
| OS National Grid | SH775775 | ||
|
|||
| Residents | 14.208 (status: 2001-00-00) | ||
| administration | |||
| Post town | CONWY | ||
| prefix | 01492 | ||
| Part of the country | Wales | ||
| Website: www.conwy.com | |||
Conwy (or English: Conway) is a town on the north coast of Wales ( Great Britain ) near Llandudno on the left bank of the River Conwy , shortly before its confluence with the Irish Sea . Llandudno Junction is on the other side of the river . Conwy is one of the entrances to the mountainous area of the Snowdonia National Park, which is popular with tourists . The city has around 14,000 inhabitants and is the administrative seat of the Conwy region .
history
Once there was a Norman fortress and during the 12th century the Cistercian monastery Aberconwy Abbey, founded by Llywelyn from Iorwerth . Today's Conwy and Conwy Castle , however, are the work of King Edward I of England who, when the fortress was built between 1283 and 1289, was part of the castles chain along the Welsh coast and built a garrison town surrounded by a defensive wall. For this purpose, the abbey was relocated to Maenan in the Conwy Valley and the abbey church, of which remains still exist, was taken over by the English.
As with most other castles, Conwy Castle and the city formed a unit; the bailiff was also mayor. Trade privileges as well as building and lease concessions brought English settlers into the country; the Welsh population remained excluded for the next 200 years and lived as shepherds and farmers at the gates of the city.
In 1403 the rebels Owain Glyndŵrs managed by cunning to occupy the fortress. The then Commander-in-Chief of the English troops in Wales, Henry Percy , was able to persuade the rebels to hand over the castle against free retreat. However, he kept nine of them hostage, including Sir Edmund Mortimer , captured by Owain and married to one of his daughters ; he was the uncle of Edmund Mortimer , 5th Earl of March and a possible claimant to the throne of an older line of the Plantagenets . As a result, Percy refused to hand over the hostages to King Henry IV and joined the King of the Welsh together with Mortimer. Thus began the century-long Wars of the Roses between the heirs of the Houses of York and Lancaster , both of whom had a rose in their coat of arms. As a result of the dispute, the Tudors, a Welsh family, came to the English throne.
In later centuries Conwy Castle fell into disrepair and was finally sold to Lord Conwy in 1627. From 1642, during the civil war , the town was manned again and the fortress was repaired. In August 1646, however, Conwy had to surrender to the parliamentarians, and three months later the castle also fell. As a result, the fortress structure was razed to make it impossible for the royalists to use it again.
Historical buildings and sights
Of all the foundings of Edward's, today's Conwy most closely resembles the historic cityscape. The completely preserved defensive wall encloses an area of 9.5 hectares and is 1.53 km long, with 21 round towers and three city gates. The fortress was protected by 8 towers.
There are various historical buildings in the city. These include the 15th century Aberconwy House on Castle Street and the Elizabethan town palace Plas Mawr from 1580 on High Street . The "smallest house in Great Britain" stands on the quay with a floor space of 3.05 mx 1.8 m .
bridges
Until the 19th century there was no bridge over the river, only a ferry connection. With the expansion of the road network, however, the decision was made to build a wrought-iron suspension bridge, the Conwy Suspension Bridge, to match the medieval fortress architecture . The structure, designed by Thomas Telford , opened to traffic in 1826 and is now open to pedestrians. In addition, the Conwy Railway Bridge constructed by Robert Stephenson , also still in use today , was added in 1848 , and finally a road bridge in 1958. In the meantime, as a result of years of campaigns , there is still the Conwy Road Tunnel for today's A55; the 710 meter long tunnel was built from 1986 to 1991.
Conwy Castle
The three bridges
Plas Mawr
literature
- Sidney Toy: The town and castle of Conway. In: Society of Antiquaries of London (ed.): Archaeologia , Vol. 86 (1937), pp. 163-193, ISSN 0261-3409
- Howard Colvin : The history of the kings works, Vol. 1: The middle ages . HMSO, London 1963, pp. 337-354.
- Bamber Gascoigne: Encyclopedia of Britain. BCA, London 1993, ISBN 0-333-54764-0 , p. 154.
- Heidi E. Conrad: Wales. A leader . Prestel, Munich 1982, ISBN 3-7913-0594-8 , p. 220 (EA Munich 1977)
