Skete

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A skete is a group of hermits following a monastic rule, allowing them to worship in comparative solitude, although with a level of support present not available for a lone hermit.

The name comes from the Greek word for ascetic. A Skete usually has a common area of worship (a church or a chapel), with individual hermitages or small houses for a small number of monks or nuns.

In the early tradition of Christianity, the Skete was one form of monastic life, forming a bridge between the cenobium (community of monks or nuns living together) and the isolated hermitage (solo monks and nuns). In the early church, men and women aspiring to be hermits or anchorites, would first be sent to the Skete in preparation - the Skete acted as almost a 'halfway house' between the cenobium and total solitude.

While the Skete has fallen out of use in western Christianity (some monastic organisations are attempting to reintroduce the Skete model of worship) it is alive and well in the Eastern Orthodox tradition.