"Is this the longest single word domain name in the world?
We like to think it is.
Let us know if you happen to find a longer one.
We wish you good luck in your search!"
Well, how times have changed. This statement stood when the website was built in 2005 when only a limited number of domain extensions existed.
But these days, with the longest extension standing at 13 characters, and possibly more on the way. than we have to concede the answer is NO!
Such is life!
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwll-llantysiliogogogoch
(or Llanfairpwll, or Llanfairpwllgwyngyll,
or Llanfair PG, or just Llanfair as it is known by the locals) is on the
Isle of Anglesey (Ynys Môn) in Wales (Cymru).
The town has become famous because of its very long name.
It has the longest railway station name in the United Kingdom, and now the
longest single word domain name in the world.
Drop into the tourist information office in
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwll-llantysiliogogogoch,
ask the staff nicely, and they will happily pronounce the
name of the town for you. They get asked to do this many times a day, every day,
so remember to be polite.
If you cant get to the town then what are you to do? Well,
are you wondering how to pronounce
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwll-llantysiliogogogoch?
Than just turn on your speakers and give
me
a click.
The name translates as
"St Mary's Church in the hollow of the white hazel near a
rapid whirlpool and the Church of St Tysilio of the red cave".
Originally, the town was named Llanfair Pwllgwyngyll,
meaning "The Mary church by the pool near the white hazels".
The village was renamed at the beginning of the 1850s when the railway was built
between Chester and Holyhead. Of interest is the "St Tysilio" part of the name,
which refers to the church of St Tysilio's, in Menai Bridge. This was once a chapel
of ease belonging to St Mary’s church
A local committee was formed to
try and encourage trains, travellers and 19th Century tourists to stop at the
village in order to help develop the village as a commercial and tourist centre.
It is believed the name was conceived by a cobbler, or a tailor, depending upon what story you
hear, from Menai Bridge.
Little did they know at the time that they had invented one of the most
successful tourist promotional plans of all time.
Today the village is signposted as Llanfairpwllgwyngyll and is known by locals as
Llanfairpwll or Llanfair. It is also known as Llanfair PG to differentiate it from
other Welsh "Llanfair" villages. So many names for just the one place!
Such a large name for such a tiny place!
Located off the north-west coast of mainland Wales, close by to the
beautiful Snowdonia area, the Menai Strait separates the Isle of Anglesey
from mainland Wales. Spanning the Menai Strait are two bridges,
the Menai Bridge (Pont Grog y Borth), designed by Thomas Telford
was completed in 1826 and the Britannia Bridge (Pont Britannia).
The original Brittania Bridge, built by Robert Stephenson, opened in 1850
and was destroyed by fire in 1970. The Brittania bridge was rebuilt
as a two-tier truss arch bridge and re-opened in 1972.
Anglesey was known as Mam Cymru ("Mother of Wales") during the middle ages
because its fertile fields formed the breadbasket for the north of Wales.
