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Start your city walls experience here

Created by the team behind the award-winning JORVIK Viking Centre, explore three floors of this important gateway. Discover more about the historic walls surrounding the city of York.

Housed in the gatehouse of Micklegate Bar, visit City Walls Experience to discover how York came to be a walled city and how the walls have evolved and changed since the first embankments were built by the Romans.

 The top floor features a central map with displays highlighting the features from different periods in history that are still visible today, as well as those that have been lost to time.

Visitors can learn about historic characters who have links to Micklegate Bar, which was historically the main entrance to the city for anyone arriving from the south, and particularly, the gate through which visiting Royals would pass (with the permission of the Lord Mayor). From Royalty to soldiers and even a policeman who took up residence here, video presentations bring their stories to life