Over 160,000 people from around the world have visited the King Richard III Visitor Centre in Leicester since it opened two years ago.

When the sensational discovery of King Richard III’s skeleton under a car park in Leicester made headlines in 2012, global interest in one of England’s most famous monarchs reached record levels.

In August 1485, King Richard III was killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field in the Midlands of England, near to the city of Leicester. His defeat to Henry Tudor – who became King Henry VII – marked the end of the Wars of the Roses, one of the most turbulent periods in British history.

Shakespeare helped to ensure that Richard’s reputation was a dark one and that he was long remembered chiefly for his physical deformity and his perceived role in the murder of the young King Edward V and his brother – the so called ‘Princes in the Tower’. However, in more recent times Richard’s reputation has been reassessed and he is now recognised for the many achievements of his short reign and the fair and enlightened laws he enacted.

Throne Room at the Visitor Centre

Following the battle, Richard was buried by the Grey Friars, a Franciscan holy order, in their friary church in Leicester. Although there is a well-known story that King Richard’s bones were supposedly thrown into the river by a mob during the Reformation in Tudor times, a number of researchers put the case for his remains still being buried in the area of the friary church.

So, in August 2012, Leicester City Council, the University of Leicester, and the Richard III Society began a search underneath a car park in Leicester, to try and find Richard’s remains. This coincided with the 527th anniversary of the date the king was killed at the Battle of Bosworth. Five months after the dig began, the university confirmed that a skeleton unearthed by archaeologists was in fact Richard III.

Reproduction of King Richard III's skeleton

The visitor centre, which stands on the site of the medieval friary where the king’s remains were buried over 500 years ago, was set up to give visitors a chance to learn more about the king’s life and death. It is located just a hundred yards away from Leicester Cathedral where King Richard is buried.

Iain Gordon, Visitor Centre Director, said: “We have experienced another busy year at the centre! We continue to welcome visitors from all over the world and their feedback about the centre and the incredible story of King Richard III is overwhelmingly positive.”

Reconstructed head of King Richard III

Janet Redler, Chief Executive of Janet Redler Travel & Tourism, added: “It is great news that the visitor centre is rapidly becoming a major British tourist destination. This attraction, along with the Cathedral and the Bosworth battlefield site, provides a fascinating insight into the life and times of Richard III and should not be missed by anyone with an interest in Britain’s history.”

To find out more about the King Richard III Visitor Centre visit www.kriii.com and if you would like to follow in the footsteps of King Richard III on a heritage tour of England, please do contact Janet Redler Travel & Tourism.