Bookable
An Apollonaut travel guide
A city around its Minster.
An introduction to York, the Roman and medieval city at whose heart the Minster stands.
On this page
Read the city
York was founded by the Romans as Eboracum in AD 71, where the rivers Ouse and Foss meet. Constantine the Great was proclaimed emperor at York in 306, and the city later became the Viking Jorvik.
A guide can give context without turning a city into a backdrop. Notice how the Minster’s towers appear above the rooftops when you walk the city walls.
Walls and towers
The Minster, the castle and the city walls are all Grade I listed. From the top of the Central Tower, the rivers, the walls and the streets of the old city lie below.
Begin with a detail and ask who carved it, who has looked after it and how it has changed over time. A photograph alone cannot tell you that.
A cathedral chapter
York Minster shows one side of the city: a medieval cathedral that is still used every day for worship and opens to visitors between services.
Look at the meeting of the two: the stonework of the 13th to 15th centuries, and the services and music that continue inside it.
Make room for context
Pair this reading with the Minster’s history and the Journal. This is an introduction for visitors, not a claim that our team manages these places or represents the people who run them.
Read at the source
Sources & further reading
Links lead to the original publishers.
