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Car Hire in Cardiff
Cardiff
Perhaps once thought of as a dull industrial city, Cardiff has now blossomed into a fine city and an ideal base for exploring South Wales. The seat of power is Cardiff City Hall, a building of white Portland stone, with several surprises inside. In the Marble Hall on the second floor you will find columns of marble and statues of Welsh heroes, each carved from Serraveza marble by a different sculptor. The Council Chamber is a room of gleaming polished panelling. The 59 metre tall clock tower and dome are topped by a fierce dragon, the emblem of Wales. Cardiff Castle is located in the heart of the city. Constructed by the Normans on the site of a Roman fort, the castle was restored in the 19th century. The Welsh Regimental Museum and the First Queen's Dragoon Guards Regimental Museum are situated here. St David's Hall is one of Britain's leading centres for music. Designed as an octagon of shimmering glass and textured concrete, the hall is venue for music of all kinds. One of the most interesting places to visit is the Welsh Folk Museum. Based in the wooded parkland of an Elizabethan mansion, the museum brings together a wide range of traditional buildings, all carefully reconstructed over 100 acres of parkland. Examples include a 15th century farmhouse, a schoolhouse and a chapel. Near to Cardiff is Castell Coch ("The Red Castle"), with its pepper-pot turrets and round towers, which was constructed on the ruins of a medieval fort.