With 58 consecutive characters, “Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyllllantysiliogogogoch” is the longest place name in Europe. Even with the transliteration “Lian-vire-pooll-guin-go-ger-u-queern-drob-ooll-llandus-ilio-gogo-goch”, the name is still not easy to pronounce. Yet this name is still “far behind” the name of a hill in New Zealand with 85 characters, “Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimau-ngahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu” (commonly referred to as “Taumata”).
The small town on the Welsh island of Anglesey has about 3,000 inhabitants, of which about 70% speak Welsh – a language that is gradually being “erased”. Business Insider page even likened this name to meaningless lines that typists inadvertently create while falling asleep on the keyboard.
In fact, this name was officially given around 1860 of the 19th century because a local tailor wanted to use this “trick” to attract tourists. However, in common usage, people often call it “Llanfairpwll” for short, or “Llanfair PG” for short.
In terms of meaning, the unique long name actually points to many of the town’s fascinating attractions, namely the Church of Saint Mary, located in the hollow of a white hazel tree, near a rapid whirlpool, and the Church of Saint Tysilio nearby. red cave. Thanks to this discovery, before the epidemic, each year, the small town was estimated to welcome about 200,000 visitors.
In order to create a highlight for the town and attract tourists, the gate sign welcomes the entrance to the town, the nameplate at the train station or on souvenirs, postage stamps, etc., all have long names printed on them. In 2015, a weather editor quickly became famous for his accurate and complete pronunciation of the town’s name.