Which York Minster window is known as the Five Sisters Window?

The Five Sisters Window is the north transept window of York Minster.

The window consists of five tall lancets, which explains its popular name. Its glass is primarily grisaille, using silvery-gray geometric and foliage patterns rather than the brilliant narrative colors found in many medieval windows. The overall design creates a striking, unified screen of vertical light.

The surviving window dates mainly from the 13th century and is among the most recognizable features inside York Minster. It is also notable for its scale: the five lancets together form one of the largest groups of grisaille lancets in Europe.

Visitors sometimes mistake the Five Sisters for a set of five separate windows. Architecturally, it is one grouped window opening divided into five narrow lights. It is also distinct from York Minster’s much later Great East Window at the eastern end.