Durham - University town with UNESCO World Heritage

Our journey took us to Durham, a relatively small university town located in a bend of the river.

We parked outside and took the bus into the city center. This brought us first to the marketplace, which is surrounded by some beautiful buildings.

We walked through the old town up to the cathedral. It is very well preserved and the largest cathedral in the Norman-Romanesque style in Great Britain.

Outside at the door, we saw a door knocker, the “Sanctuary Knocker,” before entering. In the Middle Ages, anyone guilty of a serious offense could touch the knocker. They would then be granted refuge for 37 days. During this time, they could consider whether to face trial or choose voluntary exile instead.

Inside, we were greeted by an impressive house of worship.

Scenes from two Harry Potter films were filmed in the adjacent cloister.

The chapter house was also used in one of the films as Professor McGonagall's classroom.

After our visit to the cathedral, we went to the nearby castle.

Usually, it can only be visited with a guided tour, as the University of Durham uses the premises.

However, at the moment there was the opportunity to explore it independently on a designated tour - perhaps because it was currently semester break.

This allowed us to see the Norman chapel from 1080, which is also the oldest building in Durham.

In the Great Hall from the 13th century, students dine during the semester. A pretty impressive dining hall…

Depictions of food could be found in the staircase “Black Stairs”: replicas of pineapples. The fruit was popular in the 17th and 18th centuries but very expensive. One could even rent them by the day to place them on the dinner table in the evening and show off one's wealth.

Also in the vault under the castle, students regularly gather during the lecture period: here is the bar for students located in one of the oldest parts of the building from the 11th century.

After so many historic buildings, we gradually became hungry and found a nice restaurant by the water. We ordered pancakes, but didn't expect the portion to be so large… (I hardly managed to finish half, but you could pack the rest for later.)

To conclude, we strolled along the River Wear around the old town before leaving Durham again.