Days of Yor(k)

I spent a few days in York last week, which was time well-spent! What a great city! It's very charming with lots of narrow, cobbled streets and half-timber style buildings, a good portion of midievil wall, and a very cool gothic cathedral.
There's also quite a bit of history in York. Constantine The Great was named Emporer here (back when there was a Roman fort on the current cathedral site). York Minster is actually the fifth cathedral to be built on this site. Building on the current church was started in 1220 and took 250 years to complete. How long has it been since the US Constitution was signed? 230 years? Yeah, that's right. Cathedral building was no small event. Several people died during the construction (would you want to be laying stones on a tall building back in the 1200s? Not especially safe). I love looking at churches like this one and thinking of all the work and dedication that went into constructing it- not only the building itself, but the ornamentation . When you first step inside a large gothic church, it's immediately impressive: lots of stone columns, stained glass, high arches. But the stone carvings that decorate the walls, pillars, windows, and everyplace in between are what really get me. The carved figures aren't always what you would classify as typical religious images. The stone in York minster, for instance is dotted with crazy faces, wild animals, and all sorts of mischevious, gouhlish creatures. Here are some pictures of the detail, starting up close and zooming out: two little stone heads on top of a spire, the spire in between two arches, several arches under a window, several windows lining one side aisle of the church.