Cloister

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the Princeton University eating club, see Cloister Inn.

For the horse, see Cloister (horse).

"Cloisters" redirects here. For the New York City museum, see The Cloisters.

Cloister of Saint Trophimus, in Arles, France

Cloister of Abbaye de Fontenay, in Marmagne, France

A cloister (from Latin claustrum) is a part of cathedral, monastic and abbey architecture. A cloister consists usually of four corridors, with a courtyard or garth in the middle. It is intended to be both covered from the rain, but open to the air. The attachment of a cloister to a Cathedral church usually indicates that it is (or was once) a monastic foundation.

Cloistered (or "Claustral") life is also another name for the life of a monk or nun in the enclosed religious orders; the modern English term enclosure is used in contemporary Catholic church law^[1] to mean cloistered, and cloister is sometimes used as a synonym for monastery.

In medieval times, cloisters served the primary function of quiet meditation or study gardens.

The worldwide biggest cloister (12000 m²) is in the Certosa di Padula in southern Italy.