Strata Florida

PICTURESQUE ruins once housed the political powerhouse and religious capital of Wales, say archaeologists.

Experts from Lampeter university believe the abbey at Strata Florida was a city of light to rival Westminster Cathedral and Oxford.

Near Pontrhydfendigaid in rural Ceredigion, it reputedly once held the most sacred of all icons, the Holy Grail, but there were very few other clues as to its hugely important past.

Now work by archaeologists, led by Professor David Austin, has revealed the ruins were once 10 times the size they now appear.

Deciphering farm names helped uncover the true scale of a massive monastic operation on the site hundreds of years ago.

Full article here. Illustrated tour of Strata Florida here.

Posted by David on January 31, 2005 3:58 PM