The docks area, which dates back to the second half of the 19C, has been transformed into a marina and a new "town within a town", with promenades along the quaysides dotted with cafés and restaurants. The Guildhall houses the Dylan Thomas Centre, which explores the life and work of the Welsh national poet, from his birth in Swansea (1914) until his untimely death (1953), which was never really explained and as such has fed into the mythology surrounding the writer.