When in Wales, one of the must-check places – at least based on tourist recommendations – is this Anglesey town famous for its very long name:the Llanfairpwllgwyngyll, located across the Menai Strait, a short drive or train ride from Bangor.
How’s the place?
@outragemag Introducing #llanfairpwllgwnyngyllgogerychwyrn #llanfairpg, the town with the longest name in #Europe, as discovered during this #LGBT #Wales ♬ original sound – Outrage Magazine
Una, let’s get one thing out of the way: Don’t come here expecting to see or do much. People just come here to take pics of the town’s name… basically.
The name is the one, if not the only attraction.
As FYI: Even locals have a hard time pronouncing the name. We asked someone to do that for us. We were told, though, that there’s a shortened version, Llanfair PG… which isn’t a mouthful na.
Ikalawa, the name was popularized in the 19th century, mainly as a publicity stunt. The town, of course, supersedes this popularized name.
Ikatlo, the name is usually translated to: St. Mary’s Church in the hollow of the white hazel near a rapid whirlpool and the Church of St. Tysilio near the red cave.
The meaning actually revolves around local landmarks, including:
- St Mary’s church,
- the “Swellies” (the pool/hollow of the whirlpool in the Menai Strait)
- St Tysilio’s church
Ika-apat, in truth, this isn’t the longest name for any place. Even Bangkok’s ceremonial name is longer. Then there’s that town in New Zealand.
But this is commonly described as the longest one-word place name in Europe.
So… since the name was crafted for tourism, exactly how many tourists come over? Roughly 200,000 a year. Doesn’t seem much, really, but considering the “offerings” of the place, marami na.
Besides, compared to the tourist numbers under the Marcos administration, marami na yan (!).
But off we go for more LGBTQIA+ rampa…
