CORNWALL 2017: Tintagel Castle

Of all the places we saw and things we did this trip to Cornwall, visiting the Tintagel Castle on the north coast was the most memorable.

First off, here's Cornwall at the southern end of England.

The distance from the St. Austell area to Tintagel is 39 km., so not that far away.

After parking on a gorgeous, sunny day, we walked through the village of Tintagel.

With a population of only 2K +/- people, it is still one of the most-visited places in Britain.

And to whet our appetite for the connected legend of King Arthur,

we stopped and had our fun along the way to the rocky headland on the Atlantic coast.

This is King Arthur's Hall, originally the headquarters of the Order of the Fellowship 

of the Knights of the Round Table, used now as a Masonic hall.

Don't you love this stuff!

But THIS is the spot on the coast that was occupied from the late Roman period, 

becoming a thriving Dark Age settlement and port.  In the 12th century, 

Geoffrey of Monmouth named it as the legendary site of Arthur's conception and birth.

Richard, Earl of Cornwall, built his castle here during the 1230s.
The bridge at the bottom, #5, is what takes you over into another world.

Leaving Pauline and Chris in the village to fend for themselves, Astrid and I went off on our own.

We were flanked high on the left by the Tintagel Church and on the right by the Camelot Castle hotel.

The road took us down and down and down to the Atlantic Ocean.
I must go down to the sea again...

Once passing the information center, we came to The Haven, where we began our tour.

OMG.  What is it about the sea.  The big water!

Here at the cove, The Haven, is Merlin's Cave, on the left..

It's huge!  See how tiny the people are?

And all this part of the site is free.

We could have stayed there forever but we were not there to see Merlin's Cave.

We were there to walk the island amongst the ruins of history!

So from the shore we had to start climbing up and up and up to the bridge that would take us over.

At that point, the bridge, we had to pay our entrance fee for the island,

after which we climbed up yet again.  This is not a place for the weak of heart or limb.

At the top, the doorway took us into the other world...

of ruins and vistas and imagination.

Look how Mother Earth grows where she can, seemingly oblivious to history and legend.

How do you explain the vastness of the place!

You can close your eyes and picture the island courtyard and Great Hall.

It felt like we were forever climbing, this time to the northern ruins.

We knew the statue of Gallos was at the most northern tip of the island...

and there we saw him, all 8 feet of him.

I thought it was Merlin but have read that it is Gallos, the Cornish word for "power."

I'm now confused, but we fell in love with him, whoever he is.

Apparently not everyone is impressed but he was one of our biggest highlights and thrills.

From Gallos we walked to the southern cliffs of the island, looking back to Tintagel church,

while walking back down to the courtyard and Great Hall.

Bronze artifacts with their write-ups educated us along the way.

When we got to the doorway through which we would climb back down to cross the bridge again,

we left behind a world of fantasy and legend I'll never forget.  

And now all I want to do is watch all those King Arthur movies again!

My favorite is The Mists of Avalon but First Knight comes close behind.
Guinevere, Lancelot, Merlin, Pendragon...so many characters sustain the King Arthur legend!

I wonder, of course, if you have your own favorite movie/story?