Beginnings
The first church here was a wooden building, put up in 627 so that Edwin, King of Northumbria, could be baptised. York Minster is today the seat of the Archbishop of York, and its full name is the Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of St Peter in York.
Building in stone and glass
Work on the present Gothic building began in about 1230 and continued until 1472. Its windows hold a great deal of medieval glass, from the grey-green Five Sisters in the north transept to the Great East Window of 1405 to 1408.
Repair after fire
An arsonist set fire to the east end in 1829, an accidental fire left the nave roofless in 1840, and in 1984 fire struck the south transept. The Rose Window, whose glass dates from about 1500, stands in that transept.
