monastery
Devout community home
A monastery is a building or complex where monks live as a religious community, typically following a structured life of prayer, work, and contemplation apart from the wider world.
The term applies primarily to Christian and Buddhist traditions, though similar institutions exist in other religions.
Monasteries often include a chapel, dormitories, and communal spaces, and historically served as centers of learning and manuscript preservation.
The ancient monastery had been producing wine for centuries.
Shared-living community
- communalShared by a community
- fellowshipMutual goodwill among companions
- brotherhoodKinship among men
- sisterhoodBond among women
order · congregation · rule · obedience · shared · enclosure · self-sufficiency · convent
Covered monastic walkway
- refectoryInstitutional dining room
- dormitoryStudent living building
- scriptoriumMonastery manuscript workshop
- chapterhouseClergy's assembly room
chapel · bell tower · courtyard · quadrangle · arcade · vaults · arches · colonnade
Focused attention practice
- retreatSanctuary or withdrawal
- sanctuaryProtected sacred space
- solitudeState of being alone
- silenceTotal lack of sound
contemplation · tranquility · serenity · seclusion · introspection · stillness · peace · renewal
Cloistered religious men
- abbotsMale monastery superiors
- friarsMendicant religious order members
- nunsFemale religious monastics
- noviceInexperienced newcomer to field
vespers · matins · compline · liturgy · chanting · Gregorian · Benedictine · Franciscan
Monastery manuscript workshop
- manuscriptsHandwritten or typed originals
- illuminationProvision of light
- calligraphyOrnamental handwriting art
- parchmentTreated hide for manuscripts
codex · library · preservation · copying · theology · scholarship · translation · chronicles
commune
Shared-living community
- communalShared by a community
- fellowshipMutual goodwill among companions
- brotherhoodKinship among men
sisterhood · order · congregation · rule · obedience · shared · enclosure · self-sufficiency · convent · priory
cloister
Covered monastic walkway
- refectoryInstitutional dining room
- dormitoryStudent living building
- scriptoriumMonastery manuscript workshop
chapterhouse · chapel · bell tower · courtyard · quadrangle · arcade · vaults · arches · colonnade · ambulatory
meditation
Focused attention practice
silence · contemplation · tranquility · serenity · seclusion · introspection · stillness · peace · renewal · mindfulness
monks
Cloistered religious men
novice · vespers · matins · compline · liturgy · chanting · Gregorian · Benedictine · Franciscan · Trappist
scriptorium
Monastery manuscript workshop
- manuscriptsHandwritten or typed originals
- illuminationProvision of light
- calligraphyOrnamental handwriting art
parchment · codex · library · preservation · copying · theology · scholarship · translation · chronicles · herbalism
Tibetan
Of a Himalayan region
Shaolin · lama · sangha · dharma · zazen · ashram · kung fu · martial arts
relics
Preserved items from antiquity
- saintsCanonized religious figures
- shrineSacred devotional place
- venerationProfound admiring respect
pilgrims · sacred · blessing · procession · holy · devotees · offerings · miracles · journey · faithful
- Medieval Europekings, queens, knights, castles, castle
- isolated communitiesmountain towns, desert tribes, remote villages, fishing villages, convent
- Novel settingsParis, London, Rome, Venice, Vienna
- religious buildingsabbey, ashram, basilica, chapel, convent
- sacred buildingschurch, temple, mosque, cathedral, chapel
- worship placeschurch, temple, mosque, chapel, cathedral
monasterybrothel
Commercial sex establishment
bordello · nightclub · casino · marketplace · red-light district
monasterycathedral
Bishop's principal church
parish church · megachurch · basilica · temple · mosque
- Buddhist monasteryResidential religious community, Eastern
- medieval monastery
- Shaolin MonasteryBuddhist temple famous for martial arts
- medieval monasteriesReligious communities, Middle Ages
- Zen monasteryBuddhist contemplative community
- mountain monasteriesElevated sanctuaries for monks