What a wonderful place! York is, as my daughter described it, a Renaissance Faire come to life. You’ll stroll by medieval buildings from the 1300’s built over Roman ruins, all while one of the greatest cathedrals in the world, the York Minster, towers overhead. The most complete city walls in all of Great Britain encircle a maze of ancient streets, none more picturesque than the famous Shambles. Walk along the Ouse River, on promenades built for wealthy merchants or wander the gardens by the Yorkshire Museum in the shadows of the ruins of St. Mary’s Abbey. It’s a city of culture and history so rich that it’s hard to take it all in, even after spending three months there.
York was founded by the Romans in 71AD and named Eboracum, although there were ancient settlements in the area well before that time. The Roman emperor Constantine was crowned in York, and a statue sits on that site by the Minster today. After the Romans abandoned York in the 5th century, the Angles settled there, and King Edwin built the first Minster church on its current site, where the old Roman fortress was. In 866, Vikings invaded the city, and it became a major trading port for them until 954 AD when King Eadred expelled the Viking leader Eric Bloodaxe. (yes, that’s really his name!)
In 1068, William the Conqueror destroyed much of York when the city rebelled against its Norman rulers. In 1080, the Norman archbishop began building the current Minster which stands today.
York enjoyed a long period of prosperity and influence during the Middle Ages until Henry VIII forcibly closed the many prosperous monasteries and convents in the area, tearing many of them to the ground, including St. Mary’s Abbey, whose picturesque ruins still stand on the grounds of the Yorkshire Museum. Guy Fawkes, whose stylized face has become the symbol of the Anonymous group (from the movie V for Vendetta), was a Catholic from York who attempted to blow up the Parliament building in London in protest of Henry VIII’s policies.
In the 1800’s, York became the central hub in the north for the railroad. It remains the best city in England outside of London for rail service, and is the home of a spectacular railway museum. York also became known for its chocolate, and was the center of the world’s chocolate industry for many years. Today, it is home to about 153,000 people, has a thriving tourist trade and is known as one of the safest cities for tourists to visit in the world.