York began as a Roman camp when the 9th Legion arrived to suppress the Celtic Brigante tribe. The camp eventually became a major town called Eboracum and was the capital of Britannia Inferior. The Emperors Hadrian, Septimus Severus, and Constantine all used it as their headquarters when campaigning in the north of Britain.

After the Roman withdraw of 410 AD, the Saxons invaded and eventually took Eboracum, naming it Eoforwic. The city became the capital of the independent Kingdom of Northumbria. In 867, the city was taken by the invading Vikings, destroyed, and rebuilt as Jorvik. Jorvik was the capital of the Danelaw, that area of England that was ruled by the Danes until the King of Wessex, Alfred the Great, united England under Saxon rule. York suffered under William the Conqueror for it’s rebellion against Norman rule. During the Middle Ages, York was known as the “capital of the North” and was a center of religion. It suffered as a result under King Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries as it was a center of clerical wealth. The Parliament forces took the city after the Battle of Marston Moor during the English Civil War.

With the coming of the railroads in the 1830s, York regained some of its former glory as an important rail hub. Today, with its medieval streets and buildings, York is a popular tourist destination.

Jorvik Viking Center

The Jorvik Viking Center is built on the site of Viking Jorvik, recently discovered well preserved in wet mud. The museum recreates life in the Viking town in a series of tableaux depicting markets, street scenes, and other aspects of daily life, including a rather popular latrine scene. One can actually experience the sights, sounds, and even smells of Jorvik of about the 9th Century. There is also a recreation of the archeological dig, including explanations of how scientists interpreted the evidence they found.

Museum Gardens

These gardens hold a wealth of well worn medieval history. Included are the ruins of St. Mary’s Abbey, in front of which mystery plays are presented every four years. Nearby is St. Olave’s Church, dedicated to Norway’s patron saint. One can wander past the abbey's Hospitium and Gatehall entrance, the Victorian Gothic Gardens Lodge and a VIP accommodation lodge dating from 1470. Don’t miss the Yorkshire Museum and its fine collection of Roman, Anglo-Saxon, Viking and medieval remains. The highlight of the museum is the 15th Century Middleham Jewel, Britain's finest Gothic bauble, a remarkable gold pendant with a sapphire attatched.

National Railway Museum

York’s railway museum is the largest of its type in the world. It has a repository of locomotives and other railroad materials dating back to 1829, the very beginning of rail service in Great Britain. The Great Hall displays interesting railway carriages ranging from a 1913 dining car to a Japanese bullet train. The impressive collection of carriages includes Queen Victoria's saloon, third-class rattlers, speedsters like the record-breaking Mallard and of course a replica of Stephenson's Rocket. There're also quiet a few uniforms, buttons, watches, clocks, tickets, maps, and posters.

Check out the Station Hall, a re-created period station, complete with sound effects. It contains a variety of carriages and wagons-dining cars and sleeping compartments as well as coaches into which visitors can peer. A "Palaces on Wheels" Royal Trains exhibition includes carriages dating from the 1840's to the 1940's. England's kings and queens traveled with bedroom, dining room, and saloon carriages.

York Castle Museum

This museum centers around two authentic representations of British street life that make one think one has wondered into one of those dramas produced by the BBC. The first is the Victorian Kirkgate, where one can visit shops, a family at home, and a police station. The second is Edwardian Half Moon Street, depicting life in York of that era. The street is built inside an old debtors’ prison. Some of the cells have display of Yorkish handicrafts and rural skills. Don’t miss the cell where the notorious highwayman Dick Turpin spent his last night before his date with the gallows.

The museum also houses the Jane Austin costume collection, as well as exhibits on social history, the military, and collection of doll houses. Just about all that remains of York Castle itself is the lonely stone tusk of Clifford's Tower, northwest of the museum. The former castle keep sits atop the mound created for William the Conqueror's original wooden castle, which burnt down in 1190 when 150 Jews sheltering within were forced to take their own lives during an English style pogram.

York Minster

York Minster is the largest cathedral in Northern Europe. The church was apparently built on the site of the original Roman fortress. It has undergone several incarnations, including a wooden church built in 627, a subsequent stone church, a church destroyed by William the Conqueror, and a Norman Church dating from the 1060s. Today's structure incorporates a variety of styles, including the Early English northern transept (1241-60); the Decorated-style nave, choir and octagonal chapter house (1260-1405); and, at the cathedral's heart, the perpendicular-style lantern tower (1460-80). More recent amendments were made following the disastrous fire of 1984, which severely damaged the south transept. A climb up the 275 steps to the top of the lantern tower is rewarded with a magnificent view of York.

Barley Hall

The Barley Hall is a hands-on living history museum, depicting life in the 15th Century. One is actually encouraged to handle the objects or even sit on the furniture. One can follow the costumed guides or pick up an audio tape self tour. During weekends in the summer there are special events, such as mystery plays or medieval markets.

The Shambles

The Shambles is Europe’s best preserved medieval street and entering it is like entering the 16th Century in some respects. It is a maze of narrow, twisting lanes and alleys lined with shops catering to visitors. Some of the upper floors project out over the street, as if trying to touch one another.

One building of note in The Shambles is the home of Margaret Clitherow. She was arrested in 1586 on the charge of harboring Catholic priests. To make matters worse, she had regular Masses said in her house, and hid clergy vestments there. The Elizabethan authorities condemned her to death by pressing, which meant being crushed beneath a heavy weight. Margaret Clitherow was canonized as a Catholic Saint in 1970, and her home is now a shrine.

York Dungeon

Buried beneath the streets of York, the York Dungeon is much like its counterpart in London as it depicts nearly every horror inflicted on man by man in British history. There are exhibits depicting torture and punishments including branding, boiling, beheading, roasting and drowning. Note the displays of the torture to death of Guy Fawkes and the hanging of Dick Turpin. There is also a depiction of the Black Death in York and an authentic medieval prison cell. Not for the more sensitive.

Treasurers House

This house was built in 1419 and housed the treasury of York Minster for over a hundred years. It is now a museum with a fine collection of medieval, 17th, and 18th Century furnishings. There is an audio visual display recounting the history of the place. The cellar is said to be haunted by the spirits of Roman legionaries.

Roman Bath Museum

Discovered beneath a pub in 1930, the remains of the Roman bath and the museum is accessible underground through the Roman Bath Pub. The museum contains Roman artifacts and replicated articles of everyday life in Roman Eboracum. There are fascinating - and often humorous - facts and figures about Roman life in York scattered about the museum on placards, and visitors can view armor, weapons, and Roman tiles up close.

York City Walls

York has the largest amount of intact city walls in Europe, some of which date back from Roman times, and a walk along them will take one to many parts of the city’s history. The most notable Roman artifact is the Multiangular Tower, which stands in the Museum Gardens. The tower was built during the reign of Emperor Severus, who resided in York from 209-211 AD. It has 10 sides, and stands almost 30 ft. high. The Vikings rebuilt and repaired the walls and left behind an Anglo-Saxon tower near what is now the public library. The majority of the wall dates from the 12th to 14th Centuries.

The main gateways into the old city stand at Bootham Bar, Monk Bar, Walmgate Bar and Micklegate Bar. The term "bar" refers to the simple bars which were leveled across the gates to restrict traffic in and out of the city. The bars also acted as toll booths during medieval times.

The rectangular gatehouse of Micklegate Bar marks the main entrance to the city. It is also the traditional entry point for kings and queen's visiting York. In a ceremony that dates back to Richard II in 1389, monarchs touch the state sword when entering Micklegate Bar. The gatehouse is four stories high, and contains living quarters on its upper floors. A simple gatehouse was constructed here in the 12th century, but elaborate defenses were added in the 14th, with a heavy portcullis and barbican. There is a small museum inside Micklegate Bar, which traces the history of the Bar and the city itself. Micklegate Bar was also the place where traitor's heads were displayed to deter rebellion. Some famous (and infamous) heads which decorated the Bar include Henry "Hotspur" Percy in 1403, Lord Scrope in 1415, Richard, Duke of York in 1461, and the Earl of Northumberland in 1572. Heads were often left atop the Bar for years as warning for the wages of treason.

Monk Bar is the most elaborate of the city gates, consisting of a four-story gatehouse which dates from the early 14th century. The gatehouse was designed to stand as a self-contained fortress, with each floor capable of being defended individually. Monk Bar is also home to the Richard III Museum, where visitors can attend a modern "trial" of Shakespeare's villain and decide for themselves if Richard was the prototypical evil uncle from the play, or a maligned and courageous king.

Guildhall

The Guildhall was built during the 15th Century as the meeting place for York’s powerful merchants. The original Guildhall was destroyed by German bombing in World War II and the current building is a replica, incorporating stone walls of the original. Stained glass windows provide illumination and a depiction of the history of the hall and the town. It was here that Margaret Clitherow was tried for harboring Catholic priests in 1586 and sentenced to death by crushing. Richard III was entertained here in 1483 with a lavish banquet.

Merchant Adventurers Hall

The Merchant Adventurers' Hall is one of the finest remaining examples of a medieval guildhall still in existence in Britain. The Hall was begun in 1357 and completed four years later. The building consists of a great hall for meetings and business, a chapel, and a charity hospital. The great hall remains virtually unchanged by the passage of time, save for the additions of 18th Century sash windows and a 16th century fireplace. The hospital cared for the destitute and poor of the town until 1900. The furnishings of the chapel are not original; they date from 1661.

Visiting York

York is easily accessible by bus or by rail, particularly from London. The closest airports are at Leeds or Manchester. York’s major attractions are within walking distance of one another, though there is an excellent bus service for the foot sore. The Spring or Fall months are the best times to visit.