Romans. Vikings. English Kings. And Harry Potter. York has it all! I’ve visited the city several times but returned in early August 2025 to spend more time at York Minster, the city’s Gothic Cathedral.
Dominating the York skyline, the Minster is more than just a cathedral, it’s a treasure house of English history, art, and culture. From Roman foundations to royal statues and some of the world’s finest medieval stained glass, every stone tells a story. Join me for a virtual tour through this masterpiece of Gothic architecture.
You can find more Gothic Cathedral articles and photos here.
Founded as a timber-and-earth fortress in AD 71, Eboracum was the northern power-base of Rome in Britain. By the 2nd century the Sixth Legion Victrix had rebuilt its walls in stone.
When Emperor Constantius died here in 306, his son Constantine was hailed Augustus on the spot, commemorated by a bronze statue outside York Minster today.
Generations later, the Vikings stormed York in 866, renamed it Jórvík and turned the riverside settlement into the commercial capital of Danelaw, complete with its own coinage and laws.
York cathedral is often called York Minster, from the Old English mynster, itself from Latin monasterium (monastery). In Anglo-Saxon times it described any large church served by a community of clergy who lived communally and acted as a mission base for evangelising the surrounding countryside.
At 148 metres long and more than 75 metres across the transept, York Minster is one of the largest Gothic cathedrals in northern Europe.
The cathedral building began in 1220 and wasn’t considered finished until its reconsecration on 3 July 1472, so the cathedral has layers of 13th to 15th-century architecture. Elements of Gothic architecture include the pointed arches, rib-vaulted ceilings, tall slender columns, flying buttresses, tracery, and the use of light and stained glass to illuminate the cathedral.
I’m not a huge fan of stained glass but I found the Five Sisters Window striking. Five graceful lancets of 13th-century grisaille (grey) glass soar high in the north transept, the world’s largest surviving windows of their type. Since 1925 they’ve also been a national memorial to the women of the British Empire who died in service in the First World War.
Fifteen statues of English kings from William I to Henry VI parade across the 15th-century Quire screen, each crowned and painted against scarlet gold-leafed niches. Many of these screens were destroyed during the Reformation, so this is a rare sight.
You can climb the Tower, but I’m not good with heights, so I didn’t visit that section. The ticket is extra if you want to climb and it’s only allowed at certain times, so check the website.
Completed in 1408, The Great East Window is the largest single expanse of medieval stained glass in Britain, with 311 panels depicting the story of creation to the apocalypse. It’s recently undergone a decade of restoration, so it’s a great time to see it.
The Astronomical Clock, installed in 1955, tracks the stars that guided RAF crews based in Yorkshire, Durham and Northumberland during WWII.
Beneath the nave, the Undercroft Museum charts the history of the area from Roman barracks, through Viking times and into the present day. You can also see the 1000 year old York Gospels, one of the few books to survive from before the Norman Conquest (1066) and still used in liturgy today. It was most likely made in Canterbury around 1020 and brought to York by the Bishop Wulfstan.
The Chapter House has no central pillar. I stood in the centre looking up to get this shot.
The crypt lies under the Quire, and you can see down to the foundations of Roman pillars beneath. You can also check out the very cool Doomstone, from the first Norman church on the site. It shows the mouth of Hell and sinners being forced inside by demons.
You can also visit the tomb of St William, the patron saint of York down in the crypt.
York Minster is one of only nine English cathedrals with a permanent stonemasons’ yard. Apprentices learn to carve foliage and grotesques exactly as their medieval forebears did. A brand-new Centre of Excellence, completed in 2024, now welcomes craft trainees from cathedrals worldwide. The Great West Doorway has beautiful sculptures, made as part of the restoration, finished in 1998.
York is a small city, so it’s walkable around the main historic area. I stayed at the Premier Inn, Layerthorpe, which is just opposite one of the entrances to the ancient walls, which you can walk around in different sections.
The walls are the longest and most complete medieval town walls in England, around 3.4 km (2.1 miles), and their line still follows the original Roman fortress on the west side. The cathedral dominates the skyline, so you always know where you are.
York is also famous for The Shambles, narrow medieval streets that inspired Diagon Alley in the Harry Potter films. I recommend visiting early in the day, or in winter, as it gets packed with tourists.
Books about York or set in the city
- Sovereign — CJ Sansom. Part of the Shardlake historical mystery series. England, 1541. The murder of a York glazier involves lawyer Matthew Shardlake in deeper mysteries, connected not only to the prisoner in York castle but to the royal family itself. And when Shardlake and his assistant Barak stumble upon a cache of secret documents which could threaten the Tudor throne, a chain of events unfolds that will lead Shardlake to face the most terrifying fate of the age …
- Murder by the Minster — Helen Cox. Cosy mystery. Librarian Kitt Hartley investigates a murder which threatens a dear friend. She soon discovers that down the quaint streets and snickelways of York lie darker doings than she’d ever dreamed, but she needs to watch her step: the murderer is watching her. And they haven’t finished killing yet …
- Soot — Andrew Martin. York, 1799. A silhouette artist is found murdered in his home — stabbed with a pair of scissors, the tools of his trade. The murderer must be one of the artist’s last sitters, and the people depicted in the final six shades made by him become the key suspects. But who are they? And where are they to be found?
- A History of York in 101 People, Objects and Places — Paul Chrystal. An immersive journey through the city’s hidden stories and surprising secrets. As you stroll along the city’s ancient gates, explore its historic bars, and wander through its charming snickelways, you’ll stumble upon captivating tales that will keep you hooked from start to finish.
- York Minster: A Living Legacy — Keith Jones. An illustrated ‘behind the scenes’ portrait of the York Minster community and its day-to-day life, including first-hand recollections.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this virtual tour of York Minster, and I hope you have a lovely trip if you visit the city yourself.
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