St David’s Cathedral

St David founded his monastery here around 589 AD. Pope Calixtus II's 1123 decree made two pilgrimages to St Davids equal to one to Rome. Vikings attacked nine times. The present cathedral dates from 1181. It remains an active place of worship and Britain's most significant medieval pilgrimage site.

David, known in Welsh as Dewi Sant, was born around 500 AD and founded numerous monasteries across Wales. His final foundation was here, at the western edge of the land, where he established a community known for its discipline and austerity. Monks were permitted only bread, herbs, and water. They worked the land themselves, refusing animal labor. They lived in simplicity that approached severity.

David died around 589 AD. His last recorded words, preserved in the 11th-century Life of St David, were: Arglwyddi, frodyr a chwiorydd, byddwch lawen a chedwch ych ffydd a'ch cred, a gwnewch y pethau bychain a welsoch ac a glywsoch gennyf i. Lords, brothers and sisters, be joyful and keep your faith and your creed, and do the little things that you have heard and seen from me.

The monastery he founded became a center of learning and devotion. Even after his death, the site retained its sacred character. Vikings attacked repeatedly from 645 onward, burning and destroying, but each time the community rebuilt. The present cathedral, begun in 1181, represents the culmination of this persistence.