A major phase of the history of York was when it was a Viking centre after it was invaded by the Vikings in 866AD.
From 1976 to 1981, the York Archaeological Trust conducted a five-year excavation in and around the street of Coppergate in central York. This demonstrated that, in the 10th century, Jorvík's trading connections reached to the Byzantine Empire and beyond.
Following the excavations, and as part of a new shopping centre, a museum of Viking life known as Jorvik was created, with a re-creation of what the site would have looked like in Viking times.
After Christmas 2015, flooding inundated the basement where the Jorvik museum was housed. The Viking treasures in the museum were rescued, but much repair work was required. It was decided that a future planned refresh of the museum should be brought forward, so a massive fund raising campaign, along with money from the insurance covering the museum has allowed work to start. It should be open again by Easter 2017.
At present some museum exhibits are on display in a disused church close to the museum site, and this collage shows some of the Viking characters. From left to right, we have 1) A mischievous viking boy 2) A leather trader 3) A glass, amber and soapstone trader 4) A blacksmith boy and a beggar.
Hopefully we will have a chance to visit the restored museum soon.
My kids loved this place when we visited many years ago. Hope they recreate the Viking smells in the new exhibition! It was one of the memorable parts of the old one.
Beautiful collage of very interesting shots. Great story, too. The Vikings were very intrepid people. Did you know that a branch of the Vikings under the Norman count, Roger liberated Malta from Arab rule in 1091? That is how far south the Vikings moved.
I didn't realise the Jorvik centre had flooded, it's not that close to the river. Great collage of these wonderful figures of history. I hope the new revamped museum is opened again soon.
Thank you all for your comments and favs, they are very much appreciated.
This was a good opportunity to get shots of some of the Viking figures, since photography is banned in the actual Jorvik museum. It was fascinating to be reminded of the Vikings and what they achieved, and how far they travelled (although I didn't realise they had reached as far as Malta Dione). It will be interesting to see how the latest technology will be used to make the recreation of Viking York in Jorvik even more effective.
Casablanca - the floods here were not from the River Ouse, but from it's tributary the River Foss, which flows beside the Coppergate shopping centre.
Thank you all for your comments and favs, they are very much appreciated.
This was a good opportunity to get shots of some of the Viking figures, since photography is banned in the actual Jorvik museum. It was fascinating to be reminded of the Vikings and what they achieved, and how far they travelled (although I didn't realise they had reached as far as Malta Dione). It will be interesting to see how the latest technology will be used to make the recreation of Viking York in Jorvik even more effective.
Casablanca - the floods here were not from the River Ouse, but from it's tributary the River Foss, which flows beside the Coppergate shopping centre.
Ian
A failed flood gate was the problem - see http://365project.org/fishers/365/2016-12-29 for a shot of it, and some details about the problems with it.
Ian