Durham, County Durham, England - 03/17/17

Durham is a historic city and the county town of County Durham in North East England. Durham contains 630 listed buildings, 569 of which are within the city center. The whole center of Durham is designated a conservation area.
The city recognizes St Cuthbert, a monk whose cow stopped right at where the city was to be founded and was later buried there, beginning a church dedicated to him, as an important character for it's foundation. The origin of the city's name is believed to be a junction of the Celtic word "Dun" meaning 'hill' and the Norse word "Holme" meaning island.


Interesting facts:

•  Durham was unintentionally spared from the bombing during WW2, the happenings of the night of the bombing have become a legend: It is said that "a mist, descended over the City like a ghostly shroud, hiding every building, as if they had disappeared" the mist is said to have been created by St Cuthbert. Another tale says that the same mist appeared to stop William the Conqueror from entering the city.

• Female students were only admitted to the University College for the first time in 1987 in Durham

• Durham Cathedral has been used as a prison by Oliver Cromwell in 1650, imprisoning over 3.000 POW's

• Durham Castle had the largest Great Hall in England, being 14 m high and over 30 m long, until it was shortened in the late 15th century.

• Durham has the second longest unbroken meteorological record in the UK after Oxford's Radcliffe Observatory, with records dating back to the 1840s. Durham also has the third oldest University in England.

We arrive at Durham Bailey, an area at the city center containing the Castle (Durham University), the Cathedral,  Palace Green (a grass area between the Castle and Durham Cathedral) and Durham Market Square.

 The Castle (Durham University), the Cathedral,  Palace Green (a grass area between the Castle and Durham Cathedral) and Durham Market Square.

Durham Castle was strategically built in a peninsula in the 11th century, and is the only castle in the UK that has never been breached. Since 1832 it houses Durham University, the first college in Durham.  The University of Durham is England's third oldest, having existed for over 600 years, it stays after the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, which we learned about while in Oxford.

The University has buildings all around the city center occupying 227.8 hectares/ 0.8 mi², including observatories, libraries, museums and botanic gardens.

Durham Cathedral or "Cathedral Church of Christ, Blessed Mary the Virgin and St Cuthbert of Durham" is a very appreciated structure, with many stating that it is the best cathedral in the world, it is regarded as the finest exemple of Norman architecture. The church it was built upon, the 10th century (995 AD) White Church, was built to house the shrine of St Cuthbert and the present cathedral dates from 1093.
The Cathedral houses many relics, including the bust of St Oswald of Northumbria and relics of Sr Cuthbert. It's library also contains the most complete collection of early books.


The cathedral was used as Hogwarts school for the first 2 Harry Potter movies!



On our way to Market Hall, after a little tour of the city, we go through Causey Arch, the oldest surviving single-arch railway bridge in the world, afraid that it's going to fall. 
The bridge was built in 1725 and it's now 292 years old.



We walk in in Durham Market out of pure curiosity, we learned that it was awarded "Best Private Market" in 2011, and that it is responsible for the city's natal celebration, Durham Christmas Festival and Durham Food Festival.

The market was opened in 1816 but closed due to disorganization and only reopened in 1996, it exists for 160 years.