Visiting York Minster

Coronavirus has put a stop on my travel plans but before this all started I was able to turn in one of my Christmas vouchers and my boyfriend and I did a weekend away in York.   I recapped the weekend here but I wanted to deep dive into one of my favorite things we did, visiting York Minster.  York Minster is a massive Cathedral in the heart of the city dating back to the 7th century and is definitely one of the largest churches I have been in lately.  

York Minster is considered the centre of Christianity in the north of England and is still actively used today, though parts are under construction.  We bought the tickets for the cathedral and were able to explore the main part of the Church and got a timed slot to climb to the roof.  After 275 steps we reached the top and were greeted with a gorgeous views over York from a very windy roof.   As is the case with most old building the climb was not straight  up – there were many winding staircases and spans across the church, one of which gave a great view  of the flying buttress and various vantage points of York, which is considered by many as the capital of the North.  

A few questions from our journey up to the roof: 

And after we made our way back down those 275 stairs we explored more of the church including the crypt which dates back more than 1,000 years. My boyfriend likes to joke when things in the United Kingdom are called “new” and still fair outdating the founding of America – like the fact the crypt was remodelled and the “new” chapel was built in 1154 in the Norman Style. 

I am quite glad we decided to visit York Minster on our first day in town as the second day it was an absolutely torrential storm and the visiting the church in the rain surely would not have been as enjoyable! 

Would you want to visit York Minster?