Carmarthen has many heritage attractions that have survived which include a Roman amphitheatre and medieval castle. A piece of the former railway line the Aberystwyth, the Gwili Railway was reopened to tourists as a heritage railway. There is a large population of Welsh speakers in Carmarthen. The harbour is no longer used for commercial means even though the town is on water that is navigable.
Carmarthen was once the Demetae tribe's civitas capital when Britannia was a Roman province called Moridunum which means "sea fort". It is believed that Carmarthen is the oldest town in Wales. There was a Roman fort built there some time around AD75-77. Near it was found one of the seven Roman amphitheaters that still exist in the United Kingdom and only one of two in Wales. There was an excavation the in 1968. It was found to be 27 by 46 meters with the cavea's circumference being 67 by 92 meters. In 2006 a large stash of Roman currency was found near the fort.
William fitz Baldwin built a castle around 1094 because of Carmarthen's strategic importance. In 1215 the castle was demolished by Llywelyn the Great. The castle was rebuilt in 1223 and the town was walled. Owain Glyndwr took over the town and sacked the castle in 1405. The plague known as the Black Death traveled to Carmarthen by the river trade from 1347 to 1349. The plague pit where victims of the plague were buried in a mass grave is believed to be located in the graveyard that joins the Llys Model and Maes-yr-Ysgol housing that is to the rear of St. Catherine Street.
Carmarthen was declared a judicial headquarters for the Court of Great Sessions in South West Wales after the Acts of Union. Agricultural and business associated with it such as the manufacturing of wool dominated the business in Carmarthen in the 16th and 17th Centuries. In 1604 the town became a county corporate because of a charter form James I. It named Carmarthen as the Town of the County of Carmarthen and declared it would have two sheriffs. In 1835 it was brought down to one sheriff and there is still one there today all though it is mostly because of tradition.
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