Llanfairpwllgwyngyll, << THLAN vyr pooth GWIHN gihth, >> is a village in northwestern Wales. As a hoax, in the early 1800’s, the village’s name was lengthened to Llanfairpwllgwyngyll gogerychwyrndrobwllllan tysiliogogogoch. It was the longest place name in Britain. In 1988, the village council officially returned to the shorter name.
The word Llan means church in Welsh. Fair, which was originally spelled Mair, is the name for the Virgin Mary. Pwllgwyngyll, which means hollow of white hazel, was the name of the medieval township in which the church of the name Llanfair was located. The long name means Church of St. Mary in a hollow of white hazel, near a rapid whirlpool, and St. Tysilio’s Church of the red cave.
