To understand part of the reason St. Davids is so special, you have to know a little about the history of the area. St. David is the patron saint of Wales. Legend claims he was born around 500 A.D. 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. Davids equaling one to Rome.

Important sites at St. Davids include the cathedral and ruined Bishop's Palace, along with St. Non's Church and Well. St. Non was St. David's mother.



St Davids is one of the great historic shrines of Christendom. Nowhere in Britain is there a more ancient cathedral settlement, for it reaches back fourteen centuries and survived the plunder of the Norsmen in the 'Dark Ages'. St David chose this wild, beautiful region as the site of his monastery in the 6th century and you will find his shrine in the purple-stoned cathedral, which nestles inconspicuously in a grassy hollow beneath the rooftops of the tiny city.