York Minster

York Minster - the largest medieval Gothic church in northern Europe – fearlessly dominates the city and is also the chief Church of England. It is the fifth cathedral to be built on the site since 627 when Edwin, the Anglican king of Northumbria, was baptized here. The Minster at present is largely unchanged since it was completed in 1472, although it has suffered three fires in the last two centuries. The most recent of them, caused by lightning in 1984, destroyed a big part of the roof of the south transept.

THE NAVE of the Minster is the widest Gothic nave in England. The high arches give an immense feeling of light, air and spirituality. The choir screen, marvellously carved with the kings of England from William I all the way to Henry VI, divides the nave. In medieval times services were held in the choir and the vast open space of the nave was used for processions.

THE SOUTH TRANSEPT was first section of the cathedral which was rebuilt in 1220 and the arcading and arched windows are typical of Early English Gothic architecture. The building was supervised by Archbishop de Gray whose tomb is found in the south transept. Even though the Chapter at first objected to de Gray's appointment, claiming that he was illiterate, de Gray became one of the Minster's greatest archbishops.

THE CHAPTER HOUSE represents the traditional meeting place. The beautifully decorated ceiling is supported over the large octagonal space by wooden vaults.

MINSTER POLICE: York Minster is the only cathedral to have its own police force. It was re-formed after the fire of 1829, started by Jonathon, the brother of the painter John Martin. Although Jonathon was clearly mad when he returned from the Napoleonic Wars, his threats to burn down the Minster were ignored until, true to his word, he set fire to the wooden choir stalls, the roof of the east end and the organ. Since then the cathedral police have kept a watchful eye on all who visit the Minster.

City wall

The Romans surrounded their fortress with a strong wall, pulled down, expanded and rebuilt as invaders took over the city. The wall as we can see it today was built between the 12th and 14th centuries to defend the medieval city. It is nearly three miles long and is the best-preserved city wall in Britain.

BOOTHAM BAR is the oldest gateway and occupies the site of the northern entrance to the Roman fortress. Some of the stonework on the gateway dates back to the 11th century, even if most is later. In medieval times, guards were posted here to guide travellers through the dangerous Forest of Galtres surrounding the city from the north.

RICHARD III MUSEUM: A narrow staircase leads from the street up to the museum, the portcullis and the wall. The museum features Richard III and the Wars of the Roses and includes the attraction Little Ease prison cell which was used during the Reformation to imprison Roman Catholics who refused to become Protestants. The cell measures only 1, 6 metres across and, unless you suffer from claustrophobia, you may like to try it out.

THE MINSTER LIBRARY dating back from the 13th century used to serve as the chapel of the Archbishop's Palace and is all that remains of it. It now holds the Minster's immense collection of books.

Stonegate

The area to the south of the Minster is filled with narrow medieval streets, often bearing Viking names. Stonegate and High Petergate follow the routes of Via Praetoria and Via Principalis – the two main roads connecting the two parts of the Roman Garrison. Nowadays, they are encumbered with small shops selling books, china, teddy bears and many other gifts.

When you wander along Stonegate, it's good to look not only at the shop windows but at the buildings too since the atmosphere coming out of them is really worth it.

Most of the facades are Georgian or Victorian, even though the shops themselves are predominantly medieval. Mulberry Hall is a beautifully preserved 15th-century building and Ye Olde Starre Inne is considered to be the oldest ale house in York.

BARLEY HALL – the timber-framed house of William Snawsell, a 15th-century alderman, was discovered a short time ago among ram shackled buildings in Coffee Yard, just few steps out of the Stonegate. The house has been completely restored and furnished to the shape it has in 1483.

STATUE OF MINERVA: Minerva, the Roman goddess of wisdom and knowledge, perches on the corner of High Petergate and Minster Gates and demonstrates that the shop below was once a bookshop. In the days when only few people could read, shop signs displayed visual symbols instead of names.

The Shambles

The Shambles is York's most famous street and the only one mentioned in the Domes day Book of 1086. It is so narrow that people from the opposite houses can shake their hands through the street. For centuries butchers and slaughter-houses occupied the street.

A hundred years ago there were still 31 butchers in the Shambles. They laid out their meat on low shammels in front of the open windows.

Today, gift shops have taken the whole street and the last remaining butcher, in Little Shambles, displays his meat much more hygienically than in the past.

HOLY TRINITY CHURCH: When you walk inside Holy Trinity, built between 1250 and 1500, the noise of the streets outside is immediately forgotten. Boxed wooden pews fill the uneven floor of the nave and the side chapel keeps its „squint“, a hole in the wall through which the priest could see the High Altar.

OUR LADY'S ROW on Goodramgate is the oldest surviving row of houses in York. The cottages were built in 1316 by a wealthy merchant Thomas Langtoft so that their rent would pay for a chantry priest of the Virgin Mary in the Holy Trinity.

KING'S SQUARE which was constructed on the area of one of the gateways to the Roman fortress was the graveyard of Christ Church until 1937. Many of the tombstones were used to pave the square. At present, you will nearly every time find buskers here and, on one of the rooftops, a stone cat yare to pounce on a stone pigeon.

Castle Gardens

The area around Clifford's Tower has played an important role in York's history since 1068 when William the Conqueror built a castle and mound here. Clifford's Tower which was built on the same at the same place 200 years later was a garrison until the end of the 17th century. In the 18th century two prisons and the Court of Assizes were built on the old bailey area of the castle. The Court of Assizes as such still remains, however, the two prisons are now the seat of the Castle Museum, a unique evocation of everyday life in Yorkshire during the last 300 years.

CASTLE MUSEUM: This Victorian Street has been transformed in the Castle Museum. It is called Kirkgate after Dr John Kirk, a country doctor from Pickering, who in the first half of the 20th century began to collect Victorian and Edwardian quotidian objects that were no longer used. His collection formed the basis of the Castle Museum, now the most popular folk museum in Britain. The Museum also includes prison cells, gypsy caravan jewellery and the detailed reconstruction of homes, shops and inns as they were in the past.

CLIFFORD'S TOWER was built by Henry III between 1244 and 1270 on the site of a previous tower where an appalling massacre of Jewish took place in 1190. This tower is the only remaining part of York Castle and is one of York's best-known landmarks. A walk around the top of the walls gives a tremendous view of the city.

Jorvik Viking Festival

Every February York becomes a centre of colour and drama as the city celebrates the ancient Viking festival of Jolabot, which once used to mark the coming of spring. Hordes of Vikings occupy the city and ranks of armed Viking warriors clash swords with Saxon soldiers in a re-enactment of the Viking invasion of York in 866. Such events as a race of Viking long-ships, demonstrations of traditional crafts, horn-blowing, battle drills and a Viking fancy dress competition.

Coppergate

York's past is conserved in its buildings and concealed under the streets, nowhere more so than in Coppergate. Right next to the modern shopping centres an excavated and reconstructed Viking Street is found. Close by is Fairfax House.

Jorvik vividly recreates life in Viking York and takes you back through the ages to the City of Jorvik in the 10th century. Modern-day technology breathes life into archaeological evidence, recreating the hustle and bustle of this important Viking trading port.

FAIRFAX HOUSE is one of the finest 18th-century town houses in Britain. It was designed by John Carr in the 1760s for the 9th Vicount of Fairfax. Today the house has been refurnished in Georgian style, even including an ostentatious table-setting in the dining room. During December Christmas is recreated here as it was celebrated in the 18th century.

PARLIAMENT STREET is a wide, open street, where traffic is prohibited during the day, allowing shoppers to relax, listen to buskers, or play street games of draughts and chess.

St. Helen's Square

St. Helen's Square throngs with people who collide here from five different directions. Many capitalize of the seats in the centre of the square to rest before continuing on their way. The square itself includes the church of St Helen and the Mansion House with the Guildhall behind.

THE MANSION HOUSE is home to the Lord Mayor and for that reason it is not usually open to the public. It was built between 1725 and 1730 and probably designed by William Etty – York's famous architect also known for the great contribution to the design of the Castle Howard. At the top of the facade, in the pediment, is the city's coat of arms.

LITTLE ADMIRAL: The church of St Martin-le-Grand was bombed into oblivion in 1942, and partly rebuilt. The clock in the Coney Street, which dates back from 1778, has the face of Father Time on the side and a figure known as the Little Admiral on top. The admiral is using a cross-staff, a forerunner of the sextant, to calculate the altitude and latitude.

GUILDHALL: This building dates from the 15th century when its hall was used as a meeting place for guilds and, in 1483, to entertain Richard III to a splendid feast. It's hidden away down a narrow passage beside the Mansion House. The Guildhall was bombed during the World War Two, and much of it subsequently rebuilt to the original designs. Today York's City Council uses it for meetings, concerts and exhibitions.

St. Leonard's Place

St Leonard's Place represents a Regency terrace which was constructed over the site of the medieval St. Leonard's Hospital. It connects the Assembly Rooms and the Red House - two elegant Georgian mansions where exhibitions and showings take place.

ASSEMBLY ROOMS: In the 18^th century York could have been considered as a capital of northern England. When the Assembly Rooms opened in 1732, affluent and well-to-do people from all over England flocked here to meet and talk, to dance or just to play cards and generally make a good impression. As Daniel Defoe's quote goes, “A man converses here with the entire world as effectually as at London.”

RED HOUSE was built in 1714 by Sir William Robinson, the then Lord Mayor. It was so elegant that his successor wanted to take it over as the Lord Mayor's house. Nevertheless, Sir William refused and the Mansion House was built in 1725.

CITY ART GALLERY: The York City Art Gallery has many world-famous paintings from Britain and Europe, including several works by the York artist and architecture William Etty. The Gallery also has an impressive collection of studio pottery.