COMPUTER technology is being used to bring Caerphilly Castle back to life, giving an idea of how it would have looked 700 years ago.

Cadw, the Welsh Government’s historic environment service, has announced plans to use CGI technology to bring a number of its historic sites to life by revealing a reconstruction of the Caerphilly fortress, one of the largest castles in Europe.

The video, which you can see here, gives viewers an idea of how the famous site would have looked in the early 1300s when it was able to withstand an attack from 10,000 Welsh rebels.

The video captures the ‘walls within walls’ system of defence that was favoured by Gilbert de Clare, the nobleman responsible for building Caerphilly Castle.

Viewers can make their way through a series of drawbridges, gates and wooden doors to breach the castle that comes to life throughout the video.

Missing sections of the castle rise from the ground as the south-east tower, that today out-leans Pisa’s famous tower, straightens and returns to its former glory.

John Griffiths, minister for culture said the project was a perfect example of using technology to engage with new audiences and celebrate Welsh history.

“It’s important to look at new ways of promoting our heritage so that the people of Wales and tourists alike will visit and enjoy the historic monuments we have to offer," he said.

The castle, which is the largest in Wales, has been used as the backdrop to television programmes including Doctor Who and Merlin, was the setting for this year’s Proms in the Park and a stage of the Tour of Britain cycling race.

To complete the project, a team of CGI designers worked with experts at Cadw using detailed floor plans, aerial footage, artists’ impressions and mapping information from the land registry office.

The Caerphilly Castle video is the first in a series of CGI projects to be revealed by Cadw this summer as part of its ‘Time Traveller’ campaign, which aims to inspire people across Wales to engage in their local history.

The campaign has also seen the release of a YouTube playlist called ‘Castles from the Clouds’, which shows off ten historic Welsh sites from the air.