York has a long history as a Christian centre, and the city centre is packed with churches, large and small. Most of the churches in the city centre now belong to the protestant Church of England.

The grand Minster dominates everything, of course, but in its shadow there a small historic medieval gems. Next to the Minster there is St Michael-le-Belfry, home to a thriving modern-day evangelical congregation, but also the church where the gunpowder plotter Guy Fawkes was baptised. Nearby, but hidden away like a village church in the city centre, there is quiet Holy Trinity Goodramgate. In bustling Coppergate there is All Saints Pavement, with its special lit tower to guide travellers into the old city and a guild church for the city's merchants.

There are disused churches too, like the Spurriergate Centre, run as a café by local volunteers or DIG, a place to investigate the past. Powerful St Mary's Abbey in Museum Gardens was destroyed in the dissolution of the monasteries in the 16th century, and is now simply an imposing ruin.

The smallest church is to be found in the Shambles, the Margaret Clitherow Shrine.

Access to all churches, except the Minster is free of charge. (For an exception at the Minster, see Evensong.)