WORK has begun on a £1m revamp of one of the region’s most famous attractions.
The 25-year-old Jorvik Viking Centre in York is to undergo a four-month overhaul programme.
However it will remain open during the majority of the work, closing for four weeks in January to allow for major structural changes to be made.
The redevelopment will include an underfoot reconstruction of the original Coppergate excavation; new, state-of-the-art animatronics and the reconstruction of a new Viking-age house and backyard.
Instead of the "time machine" which has taken visitors back to 975AD for the past nine years, there will be an open gallery.
Its glass windows will look out at the time-cars that take visitors round and the under-floor excavations containing the remains of Viking houses and actual Viking timbers.
The new-look Viking Centre will reopen in February in time for the city’s 25th Viking festival, which takes place between February 13 and 21.
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