cloister

In architecture, a quadrangle surrounded by walkways or covered passages for shelter from rain, attached to monastic buildings and cathedrals, and often also to colleges. The church would be linked to other areas of the convent or monastery via the cloisters.

The cloister was usually built on the south side of the church, so as to benefit from the sunshine. The central space was usually an open-air court or garden plot. In the Middle Ages the church was on one side of the ambulatory and the refectory on the side opposite, whilst east and west were the chapterhouse, larders, and cellars. The dormitories were nearly always on the upper storey. On the side of the open courtyard pillars and arches, sometimes decorated with elaborate carving and delicately patterned traceries, supported the cloistral roof, which was often vaulted.

There are beautiful cloisters at St John Lateran in Rome, at Monreale in Sicily, and at the Campo Santo in Pisa. In England, Canterbury, Chester, and Gloucester cathedrals have good examples of Benedictine cloisters.