When you reach the centre, and find that an ancient wall still runs all the way round it, and the the old City Gates till stand, you know you are somewhere special.
Of course now it is a mix of the old and the new. But there are still lots of old buildings and churches still standing, and of course there is York Minister.
The city really began about 70AD, when the Romans founded a city called Erboracum. Before they arrived, a tribe called the Brigantes lived in this area. They were conquered by the redoubtable Roman Army, and the new city began to grow.
The fort there held 6000 soldiers. Various Roman Empereors held court in Erboracum. ConstantiusI died there.
The area was, and still is, liable to flooding, and after the decline of the Romans, the city became less important.
The Angles took the city and settled there.
In 866, the Vikings arrived and took over this area and York became an important port for the Viking ships.
In 1068, the people of York rebelled, and William the Conqueror came to York to quell the rebellion.
The city remained important over the years, but during the Civil War and the Reformation and the Dissolution of the Monasteries, much damage was done to many buildings.
But today in the Shambles area, it is easy to imagine what medieval York must have been like.
Also in the Shambles is the home of St. Margaret Clithero, put to death for being a Catholic. He hand is preserved in the Bar Convent, just outside the City Walls at the Micklegate Bar.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/York
http://www.visityork.org/seeanddo/
http://www.yorkminster.org/home.htmlhttp://www.yorkminster.org/home.html
