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York, England - Guide

York - General Information

York is an historic walled city sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city is noted for its rich heritage and it has played an important role throughout much of its almost 2,000 year existence.

York Minster, the second largest Gothic cathedral in northern Europe, stands at the city's centre. York's centre is enclosed by the city's medieval walls, which are a popular walk. The entire circuit is about 5 km, including a part where walls never existed, because the Norman moat of York Castle, formed by damming the River Foss, also created a lake which acted as a city defence. (This lake was later called the King's Fishpond, as the rights to fish belonged to the Crown.)

Clifford's Tower, a stone quatrefoil keep built on top of a Norman motte, was the site of a massacre in 1190 when the small Jewish community of York sought protection in the tower on the feast of Shabbat ha-Gadol. Many Jews took their own lives rather than face a violent mob in an event regarded as one of the most notorious examples of antisemitism in medieval England.

The Shambles is a narrow medieval street, lined with shops, boutiques and tea rooms. Most of these premises were once butchers' shops, and the hooks from which carcasses were hung and the shelves on which meat was laid out can still be seen outside some of them. The street also contains the Shrine of Margaret Clitherow, although it is not located in the house where she lived. Goodramgate has many medieval houses including the fourteenth century Lady's Row built to finance a Chantry, at the edge of the churchyard of Holy Trinity church.