York Minster

The thought of being in a giant European cathedral has excited me since I was a child. When I was bored in church as a kid, I loved looking at the humble stained glass windows, filled with rich colors. It often kept me from doing something very disruptive.

Sheri and I left the girls to their shopping and we entered the great York Minster. Outside is stunning enough. York was where Constantine was crowned Emperor of Rome. A statue just outside the cathedral commemorates that event. You can see my photos of the cathedral in the photo album located here.

York Minster is the second-largest Gothic cathedral in Europe. Entering the cathedral literally takes your breath away. You are overwhelmed with thoughts of where to start and what to look at. So you just stand and stare, which is what we did. Please look at the pictures to see what I mean. What made York different from other cathedrals we visited was that it was alive. It was filled with color and sound. The paint and décor in many of the cathedrals has long disappeared. But York was spared from both time and the destruction of many houses of worship during the British civil war. York is most certainly a jewel. In retrospect, York was a real, living cathedral. Westminster was an incredible tourist destination.

Sheri and I spent an hour walking around, taking it all in. We were then called to an Evensong service. We had participated in one before at St. Paul’s in London that proved to be awkward and disappointing. So we weren’t sure what to expect.

We took our places in the choir in seats called ‘stalls.’ Each stall is ornately decorated with a unique family crest. We felt a bit royal sitting in our respective thrones. Then the great pipe organ began to play, followed by the choir. I was in heaven. We were led through the service and were careful to follow along in the program we were given. It was an incredible and moving experience. In fact, it was so moving I must admit that I was moved to tears. I will never forget it.

We then spent some time in the church basement. I’ve been in many church basements, but none of them were quite like this one. First of all, it’s called a crypt. And in that crypt were stored some amazing treasures, any one of which would be a centerpiece of an American museum. We saw all kinds of church artifacts made from gold, silver and jewels. It was dazzling. But a trip deeper into the crypt revealed something more amazing.

York Minster was built on top of Roman ruins. In fact, the place where Constantine was crowned emperor supposedly is down here. It’s quite the amazing feat digging under a cathedral exposing these ruins while supporting the structure above. But to the see the ruins in person was extraordinary.

A few hours later and it was time to meet our daughters after their exciting journey shopping for clothes. They completely missed this great cathedral and I hope they will someday be very sorry for that. But now it was time to go on to the next great activity.