Elegant Georgian and Victorian villas; historic gardens overflowing with roses, azaleas, and rhododendrons; vast moors, rugged gorges, and picturesque hills called Moors and Dales. All enriched by literary inspirations, emerging from the pages of natives like the Brontë sisters (Wuthering Heights is set among the Top Withens, surrounding Haworth) or Bram Stoker, who placed much of his Dracula in the port town of Whitby.
York, King George VI’s favorite city, is the focal point of the county, perhaps the most important English art city. Surrounded by almost 5 km of medieval walls, it boasts ancient Roman origins (2nd century AD) and a fantastic late medieval skyline. One of its symbols is the Minster, the imposing Gothic cathedral (1220-1474 AD) dedicated to St. Peter, adorned with a majestic central tower and splendid ancient stained-glass windows. Besides the numerous medieval palaces and architectures dotting the southern districts around Parliament Street, or the Yorkshire Museum (archaeological finds and art artifacts from the Roman era to the Middle Ages), spectacular in York is the National Railways Museum (the largest in the world), dedicated to the history of railways. The surrounding areas are also beautiful, such as Castle Howard, the most colossal 18th-century stately home, surrounded by a park of very high scenic value, dotted with statues and neoclassical temples, which ancient roses and rhododendrons make almost ethereal. The interiors reveal furniture designed by Thomas Chippendale and paintings by Reynolds, Van Dyck, Gainsborough, and Holbein the Younger.
