Powis Castle
Powis Castle is one of the most remarkable monuments within the British Kingdom of Wales. The history of Powis started in the Middle Ages as a massive military fortress and continues to this day as a shining palace with unique terraced gardens, which can offer its visitors an exciting history and unique architecture. Castle Powis is located in the middle of Wales and is located quite near Welshpool.
The beautiful mansion stands on a rocky ridge with a pronounced slope to the southeast, which is now internationally recognized for the beauty of the palace gardens. Powis is one of the largest and most valuable castles in Wales and as such is included in the historical Fund of the kingdom.
The first thing that strikes at the sight of the palace is its charming façade which is due to the large reddish sandstone, which was built in Powis Castle. Its architecture is the result of reconstructions in various styles over many historical periods and therefore there is no consensus which exact historical style of architecture prevalents in the castle of Powis .
The history of Powis Castle started in the Middle Ages, sometime during the 13th century. While much of the Welsh castles like Conwy Castle, Caernarfon Castle, Harlech Castle and Montgomery were military fortresses built by the King as a sign of a demonstration of dominance, the castle Powis was built as an official Castle of the Welsh princess.
In the 16th century Powis passes into the hands of the Herberts family and later the Clives. Reconstruction was taken on by these two families which took it from the cold medieval castle it was and bought it to the brilliant and beautiful castle we see today.
Today the castle’s visitors have the opportunity to see a very interesting exhibition. It is set in the museum of Clive and consists of a wide range of Indian objects such as, textiles, garments, weapons, bronze, silver ornaments, jade, ivory and an official document of the owner of Powis.
The Powis Castle has an Indian museum which opened in 1987. The master bedroom, which is preserved in its authentic form by 1660 is considered the only such in the UK.
The beautiful terraced garden of Powis is one of the few baroque gardens, which today can be seen in the territory of Wales in its authentic decoration. The park of the castle was built during the 18th century on the foundations of the previous gardens of Powis. It is believed that the terraces were carved from the rock in early 1770.
The project of this natural beauty is the work of Frenchman Adrian Duvall of Rouen and the whole garden was modeled after the Italian park drive in the 16th century. Today the original decoration of the park has survived a wonderful part of the former fountain, depicting a figure of Fame. Today, this fountain is located in the courtyard, which is the result of the hard work given to construct it in 1911.
