Wales
Things you probably didn't know about Cardiff
A coal port that became a capital, and Wales’s city of castles and TV time travel.
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1955 — fact 1 of 5
It only became the capital in 1955
Cardiff was officially declared the capital of Wales in December 1955, long after it had become the country’s biggest city.
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1913 — fact 2 of 5
It shipped the world’s coal
By 1913, the Bute docks were handling more coal than almost anywhere on earth, powering ships and railways worldwide.
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2005 — fact 3 of 5
Doctor Who lives here
Since the series returned in 2005, Doctor Who has been filmed in and around Cardiff, with its studios in Cardiff Bay.
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1999 — fact 4 of 5
A stadium that sang the anthems down
The Millennium Stadium, opened in 1999 with the first retractable roof in the UK, became Europe’s loudest rugby cathedral.
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Fact 5 of 5
A Roman fort in the castle grounds
Cardiff Castle grew up inside the walls of a Roman fort, with Norman keep, Victorian gothic palace and all.
Our Cardiff collection is part of a growing local-history library — more cities and facts are being added.