York, April 2026 - History in depth

As part of my history-themed London trip last month, I took a day trip to the city of York.

York has the best-preserved medieval city walls and gates of anywhere in the UK. You can climb to the top of the walls and walk along them. It's a two-mile circuit enclosing the old city, with great views from almost every vantage.

The highlight is York Minster, a cathedral that's almost a thousand years old, with the largest medieval stained glass windows in the world. The crypt underneath the cathedral is a museum with artifacts from the Roman fort that originally stood there, as well as ancient Christian artifacts like the Doomstone, which depicts demons boiling damned souls in a cauldron.

York has a rich Viking history as well. In the ninth century, it was called Jorvik and was the capitol of a Viking kingdom called the Danelaw. The Viking Museum is the city's tribute to that heritage.

The museum is built over a Viking street that was discovered during excavation for modern-day construction. They reconstructed the street as best as they could, including homes, shops, and animatronic characters based on actual people whose skeletons were found there.

Photo legend:
1. Micklegate Bar
2. Top of the city walls
3. Lendal Bridge & River Ouse
4. Ruins of St. Mary's Abbey, Museum Gardens
5. York Minster
6. Stained glass, York Minster
7. The Doomstone, York Minster
8. Multangular Tower, Museum Gardens
9. Jorvik Viking Museum