Everyday Life in a Monastery
Being a part of a monastery is a different experience for every person, but I wanted to get some kind of sense of how it was for the monks who inhabited it once. The cloister “preserves both material and iconographic evidence of a systematic…program”.[1] It is a piece of architecture that captures the essence of the life of a monk. It was designed to be a safe place, but as we learned it has also been a place where monks are tested on their faith. There is an underlining system of a monastery that functions in part because of the cloister. It has contributed to the life of monks who wanted to live through the practice it gave them. The cloister played a complex role for the monk’s by being a calm sanctuary, an emotional discovery, and a place for worship.