In a leafy beauty spot at the head of the Talley Lakes in Carmarthenshire's Cothi Valley stands Talley Abbey, a monastic ruin unique in Wales.
The lofty ruin, which motorists on holiday in Wales see as they travel north from Llandeilo towards Lampeter on the B4302, is unusual as it was built in about 1185 by a little known order, the Premonstratensians or White Canons under the patronage of famous Welsh warrior nobleman Lord Rhys.
The Premonstratensians were founded in 1120 and in 1126, when the order received papal approbation by Pope Honorius 11, there were nine houses, others being established in quick succession throughout western Europe, and Talley is the only one in Wales.
The 90-feet high tower and the high walls with two impressive arches still intact, suddenly appear in dramatic fashion as the tourist on holiday in Wales rounds a bend in the road.
The sight is so dramatic that the traveller almost expects a fanfare or a burst of Wagner to accompany the visual impact.
Perhaps one day the Sat Nav manufacturers will devise a built-in musical accompaniment at that point six miles north of Llandeilo.
It may interest the traveller on holiday in Wales that the Premonstratensians came to England in about 1143, establishing their first monastery at Newhouse in Lincoln and by the dissolution they had 35 houses in Britain.
Holiday in Wales visitors will read in the tourist brochures that Talley Abbey (Abati Talyllychau in Welsh) was once claimed to be the site of the grave of the medieval Welsh poet Dafydd ap Gwilym, a claim shared by the spectacular abbey at Strata Flodira in Ceredigion.
The two lakes, which from certain angles mirror the ruins in picturesque reflections, were aquaria, used for fish farming to feed the monks, who lived very well.
When the abbey was dissolved by Henry V111, the buildings in common with most others throughout the land, were 'mined' by the locals to build their homes and walls, so quite a lot of the masonry was carted away over the centuries.
The lakes, too, were poached for their fine fish stocks.
Indeed it was the lakes that gave the village its name, Talyllychau meaning Head of the Lakes.
Now in the care of CADW, the Welsh Assembly ancient monuments department, the abbey grounds are a popular refreshment stop for people on Wales holiday who can wander through and have a picnic there.