Historic York

One of England’s most historic cities, York has been an important center ever since the Romans established there the fortress of Eboracum in 71 A.D. A trading town under the Vikings, who captured it in 867 A. D., it expanded to perhaps its greatest importance during the Middle Age. Many of its treasures date from this period, and with its magnificent Minster¹ and city wall it became the capital of the North.

During the English Civil War the Battle of Marson Noor was fought nearly. In the 19-th century, under the influence of the Railway King, George Hudson, York became a great railway center, a tradition still preserved in the National Railway Museum.

The present Gothic minster is the masterpiece of the 13-th century Archbishop Walter de Grey. It was built over a period of 50 years. The final editions were the west towers and central one, built in the late 15-th century. With its magnificent interior, York Minister is the largest Gothic building in England. It seems to float above the City. One of its greatest treasures is the unrivalled collection of medieval stained glass. Especially impressive is the Great West Window in the form of a heart.

One of the glories of York is the medieval City Walls, about three miles long and encompassing an area of 260 acres. First to fortify the site were the Romans, although the differences were much smaller, only enclosing the district now centered on the Minister. Fragments of these fortifications exist in several places around the medieval walls. These walls date largely from the 13-th century although they were substantially restored in the 19-th and 20-th centuries.

Beyond the stretch of wall lie the Museum Gardens, enclosing the Yorkshire Museum and the ruins of St. Mary’s Abbey. Founded in 1030 St. Mary’s Abbey was once the most important Benedictine Abbey in the north of England. The present ruins are mainly medieval, the best preserved feature being the abbey church near the river. The Yorkshire Museum houses a comprehensive collection of archaeology, natural history and geology, including some fine dinosaur remains dating back 160 million years.

Above ground, you can wander through ancient alley ways. The Shambles is one of the best preserved medieval streets in Europe. This was formerly the street of butches, who displayed their meat under the overhanging eaves of the shop fronts.

Some alleys are so narrow that the overhanging upper storeys of building on opposite sides almost touch.

No visit to York would be complete without a tour of the city’s Art Gallery and the National Railway Museum. The Gallery contains a fine collection of work by many of the great masters, including a great number of English artists.

The Railway Museum houses not only a superb display of railway relics but also a number of actual locomotives dating from the earliest engines of the 1820s up to the great days of steam. King George VI said about this city: ”The history of York is the history of England”.

Edinburgh, Capital of Scotland

Scotland is a separate experience. The Scoots have a sense of identity, of their own history and traditions which is paralleled nowhere is the British Isles.

Edinburgh did not become the capital of Scotland until the reign of David I. Previously the capital had been at Stone, near Perth, where Scottish Kings were crowned, seated on the Stone of Destiny (now in Westminster Abbey).

There is evidence of Iron Age settlement on Arthur’s Seat, Edinburgh’s rocky mountain towering above the Royal Palace of Holyrood-house in the heart of the City and the rock on which Edinburgh Castle now stands was a Pictish fortress. Today, Edinburgh is a unique city in one of the most beautiful settings in the world, between the hills and the sea.

The Castle of Edinburgh was Scottish equivalent of the Tower of London; its position made it natural prison. Many outstanding men endured imprisonment, torture and death there. For example, James III’s brother, Alexander Duke of Albany was imprisoned in David’s tower in 1479 but he escaped by killing the Captain of the Guard and three soldiers when they were drunk. Prisoners of the Napoleonic and other French wars were kept beneath the Great Hall where their names are still carved in stone. One of them was a hero in Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel, St. Ives.

But the Castle was also the residence of the Kings and the Scottish Crown Scepter and Sword of State are still kept there. Also you can see the tiny room in which Mary Queen of Scots gave birth to James VI who as James I, was the first King of Great Britain.

The Palace of Holyroodhouse is the official residence of Her Majesty the Queen when she is in Scotland. (Holyrood means “holy cross”).

The Palace of Holyroodhouse came into existence as a guest house for royal visitors. It was attached to the Abbey. Begun in 1498 by James IV, it was enlarged in the following century by James V and later by Charles II. Mary, Queen of Scots, lived here for six years and in one of the still existing rooms in the Palace of her Italian secretary, David Rizzio, was murdered in a conspiracy led by the Queen’s husband Lord Darnley. Darnley himself died a few month later in a mysterious explosion.

Bonnie Prince Charles held a ball here when his troops occupied the city during the Jecobite Rebellion of 1745. He was the last of the Stuarts to live there.

North of Principles Street, below the Castle, lies the graceful complex of streets, squares and crescents called the New Town. This is a splendid 18-th century example of town planning “the most extensive example of a Romantic Classical City in the World”.

All these features make Edinburgh the unique city.