YORK. A CITY WITH ROMAN AND VIKING MEMORIES.

On Tuesday 8th April, 21 students and 2 teachers of the IES Álvaro Yáñez will be travelling to York to spend there one week. They will carry out a complete programme of activities including conversation lessons, touristic visits to places like Whitby or Liverpool and free-time activities. We´ll keep you informed about this travel.

Some students of IES Álvaro Yáñez will be visiting York
from 8 to 15 April.

York is called "The Capital of the North"
or "Chocolate City"

We are continuing showing you some of the most beautiful cities in Britain. Now we go from Bath to York, travelling north to find this beautiful city of about 200.000 inhabitants which was founded by the Romans in 71 AD, under the name of Eboracum. It is placed in the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England.



 

Aerial view of the City of York

In 866, the Vikings captured the city and made it the capital of  their new territory in Northern England. They renamed it as Jorvik. Their legacy is still visible in the names of streets, since many of them have the suffix -gate (like Micklegate, Skeldergate), which comes from the Viking "gata", meaning simply "street". The area remained under Viking dominance until the Battle of Hastings in 1066, when the Normans invaded England.





 

A map of the city centre

Therefore, we are in a city full of history, where every corner of every street in the old part of the city reminds you of its past. But it´s not only a historical city. Nowadays, York is a lively city, with a vibrant café culture, a lot of talented street entertainers and hundreds of shops, bars and restaurants.

The Shambles is a medieval street full of shops

  

During the 19th and 20th centuries York has become an important touristic city with an important university. Among the main sights we can stand out York Minster, which is the largest Gothic cathedral in Northern Europe; York Castle or  The Medieval Walls; The Shambles, which is a narrow medieval street lined with shops and tea rooms. There are also many museums and galleries, the most important ones being The Yorkshire Museum or the JORVIK Viking Centre, where life in Viking times is reproduced.

At Jorvik Centre you can see how Vikings lived