JORVIK Turns 40!

It was 14 April 1984 when a long queue of people assembled in Coppergate to be the first to experience a brand new type of visitor attraction – one that took them back in time to the Viking age! This Sunday, 14 April 2024, JORVIK Viking Centre turns 40 – and is as popular with visitors as ever!

Chief executive of York Archaeology, David Jennings comments:
“40 years marks a fantastic milestone for any visitor attraction, particularly one that broke all the rules of museum design when it opened back in 1984. It truly is a museum like no other – built on the exact location where we discovered incredibly well-preserved remains of Viking-age York in the 1970s, and continuing to showcase what life would have been like in the 10th century Viking city.

“We are well on our way to having welcomed 21 million visitors through the doors over that time, and are still receiving fantastic reviews – so here’s to the next 40 years!”

Visitors currently experience the fourth version of JORVIK. The original featured Time Cars that moved around a smooth, flat track. Travelling backwards through a ‘time tunnel’ before emerging in the 10th century, visitors pass through a frozen moment of time where they could experience the sights, sounds and – for the first time in a museum, smells – of the era, painstaking recreated based on the archaeology of the site.

David adds:
“There was a fairly speedy turnaround from archaeological dig to creating a visitor attraction, but just as our understanding of Viking-age York has developed – with new techniques enabling us to examine not only the layout of the streets but also microscopic evidence of flora and fauna – so we know so much more than we did when JORVIK first opened.

“This has been reflected in each new version of JORVIK – from the addition of two storey houses in 2001, to tiny details like the moss growing on the thatched rooves. This is the best possible interpretation of what the city would have looked like.”

The anniversary marks the start of a year of celebrations at JORVIK Viking Centre, starting this Friday with the reveal of a new anniversary logo marking 40 years of ‘wows’ which will feature in a display down Coppergate Walk and outside JORVIK itself. On Sunday, the first 150 visitors will receive sweet treats to mark the anniversary. Other plans for the year include a new Viking trail around York, a series of lectures and talks, and the release of a video in which those behind the creation of the very first Jorvik Viking Centre tell the story in their own words. York Fashion Week in May will be marked with a Viking fashion show and fashion-themed walking tour of the Viking set.

JORVIK Viking Centre is open daily from 10.00am to 5.00pm. Admission is £16.50 for adults, £11.00 for children and £13.25 for concessions (students and over 65s). Family tickets are available for £46.00 for a family of four or £53.00 for a family of five. Tickets are valid for unlimited repeat visits for a full year! Prebooking is strongly recommended.

For more information, or to find out about anniversary events at JORVIK Viking Centre, please visit jorvikvikingcentre.co.uk