Castell Dinas is a hillfort and castle in southern Powys. At 450 m it has the highest castle in England and Wales. It is positioned to defend the Rhiangoll pass between Talgarth and Crickhowell.
This site was originally an Iron Age, 600 BC to 50 AD, hillfort. A fortified Norman castle with stone walls was built on the site possibly by William Fitz Osbern or his son Roger de Breteuil, Earl of Hereford in the period 1070 to 1075. The castle was eclipsed with the building of Brecon castle before April 1093. The fortress seems to have been constructed in stone from the first with a hall-keep surrounded with curtain walls and square towers. Historically the castle remained a part of Brecon or Brycheiniog barony until 1207 when King John of England granted it to Peter FitzHerbert. It then became caput of what was to become the Talgarth or Blaenllyfni barony.
The castle was sacked by Prince Llywelyn ab Iorwerth in October 1233 and subsequently refortified by King Henry III of England before being returned to Peter Fitz Herbert. The castle was again captured by Llywelyn's grandson, Prince Llywelyn ap Gruffudd in the period 1263 to 1268. The castle was finally destroyed by the adherents of Owain Glyndŵr in the early 15th century rebellion.
What remains now are crumbling walls mainly covered with earth and the outlines of ditches and ramparts from the original Iron Age fortifications, commanding extensive views up into the Black Mountains and over Talgarth towards Brecon.
References:Visby Cathedral (also known as St. Mary’s Church) is the only survived medieval church in Visby. It was originally built for German merchants and inaugurated in 1225. Around the year 1350 the church was enlarged and converted into a basilica. The two-storey magazine was also added then above the nave as a warehouse for merchants.
Following the Reformation, the church was transformed into a parish church for the town of Visby. All other churches were abandoned. Shortly after the Reformation, in 1572, Gotland was made into its own Diocese, and the church designated its cathedral.
There is not much left of the original interior. The font is made of local red marble in the 13th century. The pulpit was made in Lübeck in 1684. There are 400 graves under the church floor.