York Minster

York Minster 400
York Minster York North Yorkshire England
Photo by: jack spelling bacon, Creative Commons

York Minster is a Gothic cathedral located in York, England. It is considered as the largest of its kind in Northern Europe along the side of Cologne Cathedral. The Archbishop of York sits in The Minster. This is the second highest office of the church in England.

This cathedral has a widely Decorated Gothic nave and chapter house. The south transept possesses the famous Rose window. The nave has the west window, which was constructed back in 1338, and the Lady Chapel is on the east side is the Great East window. This window was completed in 1408. The formal name or title of York Minster is The Cathedral and Metropolitan Church of St. Peter in York. The minster is sometimes called the high church of Anglo Catholicism.

Some of the stained glass in York Minster was said to be dated back to 12th century. The 76 feet tall great east window was created by John Thornton in the early fifteenth century. It is considered as the largest medieval stained glass in the world. Another special window is the rose window and the five sister’s window that measures around 50 foot tall.

The two west towers hold the bells and clock chimes. The northwest holds the six clock bells, which are known to weigh around 3 tons or more. The southwest tower holds the other 14 bells.

The fire back in 1829 destroyed the organ inside the Minster. The present organ or the new organ dates from 1832. Elliot and Hill constructed the new organ. The organ was reconstructed again by William Hill and Sons in 1859. The case of the organ remained intact but large pipework was done and introduced. After sometime in 1915, Harrison & Harrison did a small amount of work and the famous Tuba Mirabilis was added.

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