# How well do you know York? Take the quiz

Posted 12/02/2026 by [Your Move](/blog/authors/marketing-team)

Take the 25-question quiz on the City of York.

   ![Upwards shot of the York Minster](https://www.your-move.co.uk/uploads/blog_post/12_1445_s.jpg?v=163526) 1. **What was the full Roman name of York when it became a legionary fortress?**
2. **Which Roman emperor was proclaimed emperor in York in AD 306?**
3. **What is the name of the shortest street in York, measuring just a few metres long?**
4. **Which two rivers made York such a strategic trading settlement in Roman and Viking times?**
5. **What does the Viking name Jórvík actually translate to?**
6. **Which part of York Minster took over 250 years to complete?**
7. **How many gates—known locally as “bars”—are there in York’s city walls?**
8. **Which bar is considered the main ceremonial entrance to the city?**
9. **What unusual feature can be found carved into many buildings around York Minster?**
10. **What was the Shambles originally known for selling during the Middle Ages?**
11. **Which famous chocolate company *did not* originate in York: Rowntree, Terry’s, Cadbury, or Nestlé?**
12. **What is the name of the medieval merchant’s house often claimed to be the most haunted in York?**
13. **Which historic event in 1190 led to a tragic mass death at Clifford’s Tower?**
14. **What was York’s primary industry during the height of the railway era?**
15. **Which Roman legion mysteriously disappeared after being stationed in York?**
16. **What is the name of the narrow passageway said to be the *most haunted street* in York?**
17. **What creature is most commonly featured in York Minster’s stone carvings and roof bosses?**
18. **Which famous dessert is uniquely associated with York and rarely found elsewhere?**
19. **Which annual festival transforms York into a Viking village every February?**
20. **What surprising fact links York Minster and the Titanic?**
21. **Which York street name refers to a place where leather was once worked?**
22. **What is unusual about the layout of York’s city walls compared to most English cities?**
23. **Which famous author is believed to have drawn inspiration from York’s streets for a fantasy world?**
24. **Approximately how many listed buildings does York have?**
25. **What phrase is often used to describe York as a city with “layers of history” beneath its streets?**

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The answers: how did you do?

1. **Colonia Eboracensium**
2. **Constantine the Great**
3. **Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma-Gate**
4. **The Rivers Ouse and Foss**
5. **“Horse Bay” or “Place of the Horse”**
6. **The Minster as a whole—construction spanned over 250 years**
7. **Four main bars**
8. **Micklegate Bar**
9. **Grotesques and gargoyles**
10. **Meat (it was home to butchers)**
11. **Cadbury**
12. **The Golden Fleece**
13. **The massacre of the Jewish community**
14. **Railway manufacturing and transport**
15. **The Ninth Legion (Legio IX Hispana)**
16. **The Shambles (or Stonegate, depending on legend!)**
17. **Dragons**
18. **Yorkshire curd tart**
19. **The Jorvik Viking Festival**
20. **Some craftsmen who worked on York Minster also worked on Titanic interiors**
21. **Girdlergate**
22. **They form a complete loop around the city**
23. **J.K. Rowling**
24. **Over 1,700**
25. **“A city built on itself”**

[Your Move](/blog/authors/marketing-team)

The Your Move Content Marketing Team