Gelert's Grave - Beddgelert, Wales

Gelert's Grave

Sygun Fawr

The Driveway

Snowdonia Country Road

Easily one of the most beautiful villages in Wales, Beddgelert is in the heart of Snowdonia National Park. It should not be missed if you are lucky enough to visit Northern Wales.

We stayed outside of town in a mountain-top inn (Sygun Fawr Country House) that was awesome. Just be prepared for a harrowing drive up a road that is so steep and narrow that you'll almost certainly relive the drive in a nightmare at some point in your life (heaven help you if you have to back down to let another car pass). Once you're there you will enjoy gorgeous views of the mountains and surrounding gardens in a lovely hotel will good food and amenities.

I knew I wanted to visit Beddgelert because of its location and beauty, but didn't have any specifics on things to see. I'd seen something about Gelert's grave at the end of a path along the Glaslyn river and insisted we check it out, expecting to see the grave of a saint.  I had no idea the saint would be a faithful dog.

In the 13th Centrury, Llywelyn, Prince of North Wales had a palace nearby from which he would go hunting. On one day, his faithful dog Gelert did not join him on the hunt. When the Prince returned, he found Gelert covered with blood and the cot of his infant son empty and stained with blood. In a fit of rage he killed Gelert with his sword. As Gelert lay dying, Llywelyn he heard the cry of his baby. He turned to find his son unharmed at the foot of a large wolf that Gelert had killed. The Prince laid Gelert to rest in this place; he was never seen to smile again.

There's probably a little Llywelyn in all of us: something that makes us prone to act rashly and jump to conclusions.  It's food for thought as you walk back to the village and watch the trout sip flies in the pools of Afon Glaslyn.