General Information
Swansea is a town and county on the coast of South Wales in the east of the Gower Peninsula. It is the second largest city of the principality and grew to its current size mainly in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, during which it became the center of heavy industry. However, it did not experience the same degree of immigration as Cardiff and the East Valley of South Wales.
History
Many remains from the Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age have been found on the Gower Peninsula. In the city itself, however, archaeological finds are relatively rare. The area was controlled by both the Romans and later the Vikings, after whose name the city is called to this day.
Today, only remnants of the medieval historic center remain, as the importance of the city as an industrial center caused devastating air raids during World War II, which almost completely leveled the center.
On June 27, 1906, an earthquake measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale struck the area. It was the largest earthquake recorded in Great Britain in the twentieth century. Although major structural damage caused by similar earthquakes in the United Kingdom is very rare, the earthquake damaged many of the city's buildings.
Interesting facts
The name Swansea comes from the Old Norse name "Sweyn's Ey '" (ey was the word for the island) which originated during the Viking looting of the South Wales coast. That is why even today it is pronounced Swan's-y [ˡswɒnzi], not Swan-sea.
