aerial photograph of York Minster Yorkshire England UK. York Minster, or to be more correct, the Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, is the largest medieval cathedral in Northern Europe.There had been a church on the site since AD 627 which had been repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt before construction began on the present building in 1220 with the nave was completed in 1308 and the East Window, , the largest expanse of medieval stained glass in the world was built in 1408. The Tower collapsed in 1407 and was rebuilt in 1420 with additional towers being built on the western side 1433 to 1472. The Cathedral was consecrated in 1472. During the English civil war it was besieged and taken by Cromwell's New Model Army. During recent preservation work the remains of the Roman Principia were found under the South Trancept.