York+Minster

By Danielle D

The York Minster is the largest Gothic cathedral in England. It is also called St Peter's, but it's official name is "Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of St Peter in York." It was built over two hundred and fifty years, outliving many of it's builders. The building of the Minster lasted between 1220 and 1472. The idea was abandoned a few times, but was then built into the building it is today. The title "  minster   " is attributed to churches established in the Anglo-Saxon period as missionary teaching churches, and serves now as an honorific title.

The York Minster was voted one of the UK's Seven Wonders, and two million people visit annually. The Minster is so large that it is one of the largest gothic cathedrals in the world. Chartres, a cathedral in Paris, is larger, but Chartres is the only one larger than the Minster.

It began as wooden church in 627 A.D., but it was burnt down in a fire, so King Oswald, the king at the time, had it rebuilt in stone in 664 A.D. and again in 741 A.D. because of another fire. It was destroyed again d uring a Norman siege in 1069 A.D. The church was rebuilt and redesigned in the gothic style in the 1200s to compete with the size and beauty of Canterbury Cathedral. The last pieces of the church, the towers, were finished in 1472.

When it first came into existence, it was a Norman cathedral, but when it was rebuilt for the last time, it was built as a gothic cathedral. The gothic type of build they used for the Minster was to have the style of it to be current.

Finally, the last edition that was added was the central tower, and that was built 1405-1415 A.D. It's final finishing date was July 3, 1472, and it's been a growing tourist attraction since then.