Day 6. Friday, August 14. Pentre Ifan; St. David’s Cathedral; Pembroke Castle;
To Cardiff (B/Box Lunch/D)  

           

L to R: Pentre Ifan Dolmen  Wikipedia ; St. David's Cathedral Wikipedia


Pembroke Castle  Wikimedia

Breakfast at your leisure

9:00AM - Arrive and visit Pentre Ifan "Ifan's Village", which was once known as Arthurs' Quoit, or Dolmen. It's a Bronze-Age megalithic site dating from at least 4000 BCE, In ancient times it was sometimes called “The Womb of Cerridwen.” She was an enchantress in Welsh medieval legend. Her name is derived from the Celtic word "cerru," meaning cauldron, which symbolizes the transformative power of magic, wisdom, rebirth and creative inspiration. Medieval Welsh poetry refers to her as possessing the cauldron of poetic inspiration (Awen) and the Tale of Taliesin recounts her swallowing her servant Gwion Bach who is then reborn through her as the poet Taliesin. She's regarded by many modern Pagans as the Celtic goddess of rebirth, transformation, and inspiration. The north-south orientation of the megalith is unusual, as they're usually oriented east-west.

Some researchers say it's probably the finest Welsh hilltop megalith. And though no trace of burials has been found here, it's possible that it was used for collective burials. Over the several thousand years of its existence it's been denuded of earth. The magnificent 40 ton horizontal capstone is still in place; its 16ft 6in long and 8ft off the ground. The stones of the chamber are all of local igneous rock; on the portal stone there is a faint decorative cupmark. The belief of the builders could have been that the interred soul (or souls) was closer to the Spirit World and also closer to the Sun, whose essence was worshiped as the giver of life, warmth and abundance. The north-south orientation of the megalith is unusual, as they're usually oriented east-west.

Local legends offer that fairies are sometime seen here. They're described as "little children in clothes like soldiers clothes and with red caps". Keep your eyes open and believe; you might see them too!

10:30AM – Depart to visit St. David's Cathedral.
11:15AM - Arrive and visit St. David's Cathedral, one of Britain's oldest cathedrals. The legend of St. David, or Dewi, the patron saint of Wales, claims he was born around 500CE on the rugged Pembrokeshire coast of southwest Wales. He was the founder of a strict monastic order in the town that bears his name, and was the most influential clergyman in all Wales during the "Age of Saints." His place of birth and the cathedral built in his name became one of the most important shrines of medieval Christendom - two pilgrimages to St. David’s equaling one to Rome. Nowhere in Britain is there a more ancient cathedral settlement, for it reaches back fourteen centuries and survived the plunder of the Vikings during  the Dark Ages. The cathedral was a major pilgrimage destination throughout the Middle Ages.

St David chose this wild, beautiful region as the site of his monastery in the 6th century; his shrine is in the purple-stoned cathedral which is considered the holiest site in Wales due to his relics. Today it's still a living modern church, with energies from the distant past still reaching out to touch those who are open to them.

The Norman cathedral, which was rebuilt from an older version in 1131CE, was situated down in a hollow to avoid the notice of invaders from the sea, so you can only see the tower until you're right upon the building. Be focused on its "entrance", as it's quite a spectacular sight!

WHAT TO SEE (Partial Excerpt from www.sacred-destinations.com: Enter by the south door and step into the south aisle of the nave. Stand at the back of the nave and notice the arcades lean significantly outward — a problem that has plagued cathedral architects for centuries. An earthquake in 1248CE didn't help, either! You can feel the sloping lean towards the back of the cathedral as well.

From here you can admire the finely-carved stone screen, which includes a statue of St. David, in the front of the nave. Look up to the beautiful wooden ceiling, carved of Irish oak in the early 16th century and embellished with carved pendants. The carved wooden crucifix or rood suspended from the ceiling is a 20th-century replacement of a medieval version. Over your right shoulder above the baptismal font is a small rose window, installed in the 1950s. Then, walking around the stone screen to the right, along the south aisle, you come to the battered tomb of Bishop Gower, who contributed so much to the cathedral and the surrounding area, with his effigy on top.

The entrance to the beautiful 15th and 16th-century choir is next to Edmund's tomb. It's famed for its large collection of decorated misericords or seats designed out of mercy (Latin misericordia) to support the weight of priests standing throughout services. Each one is carved from a single block of oak. The hidden position of the misericords released the craftsmen from the forms of traditional ecclesiastical art to create an often irreverent form of folk art. The images are highly symbolic satires on the lives of laity and clergy and moral lessons. The words painted above the seats are the names and offices of those using them at the time.

What's left of the Shrine of St. David (1275) stands in its original position in the Presbytery. The shrine was destroyed during the Reformation and is empty; his relics are believed to be in the reliquary in the nearby Holy Trinity Chapel. It was built by Bishop Vaughn (r.1509-22) as his chantry chapel, in the Perpendicular style. A statue of him stands in his chapel.

The chapel's small stone altar is reconstructed from medieval framents, and the fan vaulting of the ceiling includes the coat of arms of Henry VII. The window allowed the chantry priest celebrating in this chapel to monitor the progress of the simultaneous masses taking place in the other chapels. The Holy Trinity Chapel also contains the reliquary believed to hold the bones of St. David and other saints. These were discovered in 1866, buried under the floor of the chapel, then moved into their present oak casket behind an iron grille in 1920. In 1996, carbon-dating of the bones showed they dated from the 12th through 14th centuries.

Next to the north transept is the St. Thomas Becket Chapel, which includes a stained glass portrait of St. David. The Eucharistic elements are also kept here.

In the southeast end of the cathedral is the pink-hued marble Chapel of St. Edward the Confessor. The tomb is that of the Countess of Maidstone, granddaugther of Bishop Jenkinson (1825-40). From here an ambulatory leads to the Lady Chapel, restored in 1901.

On the wall in the south transept is a fine 17th-century Cretan icon of Elijah being fed by ravens, a rare Eastern Orthodox touch to a western cathedral. And throughout the cathedral's aisles are tombs and effigies of various medieval priests and knights.

SOME LEGENDS ABOUT DAVID:
1) One alleges that King Arthur was his uncle and that among the "prophecies of Merlin" was a prediction that St. David would found a bishopric in Wales.

2) In another legend, St. Gildas (born c.500CE) foretold David's birth when a pregnant woman came into the church as he was preaching. He was struck dumb, and on regaining his power of speech, predicted that she would give birth to a son "with a greater proportion of the divine spirit than has ever fallen to the share of a preacher."

3) It's said that during a speech at a 6th-century synod a dove descended on David's shoulder, signifying his eloquence and guidance by the Holy Spirit. The statue of St. David in the cathedral includes the dove.

3) David died in old age on March 1 in either 589 or 602 CE. His last words are reported to have been, "Brothers and sisters, be joyful and keep the faith and do the little things which you heard and saw with me."

After our walk through the cathedral, time allowing, find a quiet place to sit and meditate and / or reflect on what you've received from your visit to this sacred place.

1:00PM - Depart to Pembroke Castle. En-route enjoy your packed lunch as we travel through Pembrokshire.

2:00PM – Arrive and visit Pembroke Castle, a medieval castle that was the original family seat of the Earldom of Pembroke. In 1093, Arnulf of Montgomery built the first castle at the site when he fortified the promontory beside the Pembroke River during the Norman invasion of Wales. A century later, the castle was given by Richard I to William Marshal, who became one of the most powerful men in 12th-century Britain. He rebuilt Pembroke in stone creating most of the structure that remains today. The castle underwent major restoration during the early 20th century and was designated as a Grade I listed building in 1951. Today it's owned by the Philipps Family, who open it to the public; it's the largest privately-owned castle in Wales.

The inner ward, which was constructed first, contains the huge round keep with its domed roof. Its original first-floor entrance was through an external stairwell. Inside, a spiral staircase connected its four stories. The keep's domed roof also has several putlog holes that supported a wooden fighting-platform. If the castle was attacked, the hoarding allowed defenders to go out beyond the keep's massive walls above the heads of the attackers. The inner ward's curtain wall had a large horseshoe-shaped gateway. But only a thin wall was required along the promontory. This section of wall has a small observation turret and a square stone platform. Domestic buildings including William Marshal's Great Hall and private apartments were within the inner ward. The 13th century keep is 75 ft. tall with walls up to 20 ft. thick at its base. In the late 13th century, additional buildings were added to the inner ward, including a new Great Hall. A 55-step spiral staircase was also created that led down to a large limestone cave, known as Wogan Cavern, beneath the castle. The cave, which was created by natural water erosion, was fortified with a wall, a barred gateway and arrowslits. It may have served as a boathouse or a sallyport to the river where cargo or people could have been transferred.

The outer ward was defended by a large twin-towered gatehouse, a barbican and several round towers. The outer wall is 16 ft. thick in places and constructed from Siltstone ashlar.

Although Pembroke Castle is a Norman-style enclosure castle with great keep, it's more accurately described as a linear fortification because, like the later 13th-century castles at Caernarfon and Conwy, it was built on a rock promontory surrounded by water. This meant that attacking forces could only assault on a narrow front. Architecturally, Pembroke's thickest walls and towers are all concentrated on its landward side facing the town, with Pembroke River providing a natural defense around the rest of its perimeter.

3:00PM – Depart to Cardiff.
5:30PM – Arrive and check in at our hotel. Free time.

Cardiff is the capital of Wales and its largest city. The eleventh-largest city in the United Kingdom, it is Wales's chief commercial center, the base for most national cultural institutions and Welsh media, and the seat of the National Assembly for Wales.

The anglicised form Cardiff is derived from Caerdyf. The antiquarian William Camden (1551–1623) suggested that the name Cardiff may derive from *Caer-Didi ("the Fort of Didius"), a name supposedly given in honor of Aulus Didius Gallus, governor of a nearby province at the time when the Roman fort was established. Although some sources repeat this theory, it has been rejected on linguistic grounds by some modern scholars.

Until the Roman conquest of Britain, Cardiff was part of the territory of the Silures – a Celtic British tribe that flourished in the Iron Age – whose territory included the areas that would become known as Breconshire, Monmouthshire and Glamorgan.

7:00PM - Group dinner at the hotel.
Overnight Cardiff. Clayton Hotel.