We have already referred more than once to the plan preserved in the Saint-Gallen monastery, which conveys in great detail the internal structure of the monastery of the 9th century. On the drawing - the most diverse services of the monastery; The value of this document is increased by the fact that it, apparently, is not a plan of this or that particular monastery, but a model plan according to which all monasteries were to be built.

It is interesting to note, as a feature of naivete, characteristic of that era, that all explanations for the plan, which are of a more general nature, are set out in verse. In prose, only a description is given that is directly related to the Saint-Gallen monastery, for example, the name of the saint to whom the main altar will be dedicated, the dimensions of the length and width of the church, in a word, local details. Obviously, these rhymed inscriptions were not composed for the sake of an isolated case, but represent the points of a general rule, an instruction addressed to all abbeys equally.

We play on the left side rice. 340 this typical plan in general terms. With a free arrangement of services, it resembles the plan of a Roman villa. As in an ancient villa, the laws of symmetry are not observed at all here: the buildings are located on vast areas, according to the conditions of the terrain and convenient use.

Note: The plan of Saint Gallen Abbey dates back to 820. The fact that this plan is, so to speak, an exemplary plan, which should have guided the construction of other monasteries, speaks for the predominance in the early Middle Ages of the desire for typological and stylistic uniformity of forms in both civil and in religious buildings, both in separate buildings (basilica, donjon), and in architectural complexes (monastery, castle, city); see below. For the plan of St. Gallen Abbey, see Otte, Geschichte der Roman. Baukunst in Deutschland, 1874, p. 92; Last eyrie, L "architecture religieuse en France a l" epoque romane, Paris 1912, p. 141.

On the plan of the abbey, as well as on the plan of the Roman villa, two main parts are distinguished: villa rustika and villa urbana (rural villa and urban villa). The latter, in fact, became a monastery; as in an ancient house, here the halls surround a courtyard with porticos, and the atrium has been transformed into a covered gallery (cloister). The plan of the Saint-Gallen monastery can be briefly described as follows: in the center - the church; on the south side - rooms for monks and a room for pilgrims; on the north side - the premises of the abbot, schools, hotels; behind is a hospital, far removed from the monastery; in the vicinity - a farm and housing for laity workers.

The following list elaborates on this general plan:

K - bedrooms located along the covered gallery and communicating with the choir;

R - refectory, with kitchen (S) and pantry (C);

A - the abbot's quarters;

B - workshop of copyists and library;

H - room for guests;

R is a place for pilgrims, beggars and, no doubt, also for asylum-seekers;

M - hospital with a special chapel; to the left of the chapel - a hospital for clerics, to the right - for outsiders;

F - farm and workshops belonging to the abbey.

As a detail, the plan points to a heater or underfloor heating located under the bedroom, which at the same time serves to heat the bathhouse located in courtyard L, as well as to the pulpit for reading prayers in the refectory.

For comparison with the plan of the St. Gallen monastery, we place the plan of the abbey of Clairvaux of the XII century. (Fig. 340, right). The similarity between these plans is so great that it would be superfluous to give each of them a special explanation; therefore we have marked on both planes the same services by the same letters.

Look at the description of the St. Gallen monastery - it corresponds to the abbey in Clairvaux; the plan of Clairvaux seems to be the actual implementation of the standard plan, as applied to the requirements of the locality and to certain special conditions of the statute. Here are the most significant differences: in the monastery of St. Gallen there was only one covered gallery - in Clairvaux there are two, the second being for scientific studies; instead of a bedroom above the heater (hypocauste), there is a bedroom without a fireplace, located on the second floor, and below it there is a chapter hall, a reception room, a small room reserved for conversations with visitors, occasionally allowed to the monks, and a closet where the monks warmed themselves after the night service.

In general, in all the abbeys and throughout the Middle Ages, the premises were distributed in the same spirit as they were dictated in the 9th century. graphic indications of the plan of the Saint-Gallen monastery. Only the Order of St. Bruno makes changes to this plan, expressed in the fact that each monk is assigned a separate small cell in the corner of the courtyard (the Carthusian monastery, now destroyed, in Clermont; partly preserved Carthusian monastery in Nuremberg).

In addition to the agricultural buildings adjoining the monastery, the great abbeys owned individual farms, the architecture of which, while retaining the character of simplicity dictated by their purpose, is sometimes so artistically perfect that these buildings can be considered first-class works of art. Such is the farm at Mesle near Tours, the remaining parts of which are depicted on rice. 341.

Some of the monastery mills are also real architectural monuments.

Finally, let us mention the monasteries-fortresses, such as Mont Saint-Michel, whose multi-storey buildings rise on the slopes of a cliff rising in the middle of the sea. Such fortified monasteries are an exception; usually they are content with a battlement with turrets at the corners, relying on respect for the sacred place.

Chapter "Monastic buildings" of the section "Monastic and civil architecture of the Middle Ages" from the book of Auguste Choisy "History of Architecture" (Auguste Choisy, Histoire De L "Architecture, Paris, 1899). Based on the publication of the All-Union Academy of Architecture, Moscow, 1935.

The Cistercian abbey of Heiligenkreuz is considered one of the largest active medieval monasteries in the world, it was created in 1133. The monastery is located 25 km from Vienna, on the edge of the Vienna Woods.

Theological Institute

The abbey went through different times. There were periods when the brethren were on the verge of poverty; the monastery was threatened with closure more than once. However, the dissolution was avoided thanks to the opening of the Theological Institute. The monks have always patronized remote diocesan parishes and have been involved in charity work. The parish still provides psychological assistance to families, supports the elderly, and is engaged in premarital education of the youth.

Choir of Heiligenkreuz

The monks restored all the buildings, collected a huge library of 50 thousand volumes, and run their own household. And the abbey is famous for the traditions of Gregorian chant. The Heiligenkreuz Choir has recorded several albums, with a total circulation of over 500,000 CDs. The discs were a great success.

Heiligenkreuz is an active monastery. There are 86 people in the monastic brethren. Tourists can visit the monastery only at set times.

Heiligenkreuz Monastery (Stift Heiligenkreuz), photo by Patrick Costello

Monastery courtyard, photo by Anu Wintschalek

The monasteries arose out of the desire of hermits for a spiritual life outside of society, but in the community. Prince Siddhartha Gautama renounced wealth in search of enlightenment, becoming the founder of a Buddhist community of monks.

Christian monasticism arose in the desert of Egypt, where hermits sought a solitary life. Some were so revered and famous that they turned their followers into disciples who formed communities in the 4th century. So Anthony gathered the hermits who lived nearby in the desert, who gathered on Sundays for worship and a common meal. One of the oldest monasteries in the world was founded shortly after the death of St. Anthony, named after him as the founder of Christian monasticism.

Monasticism gradually spread throughout the Roman Empire. Saint Benedict also fled from the world, but the disciples paved the way to his door. In 530, he enclosed the community with a wall and wrote rules for the monks, where he emphasized obedience, moderation and an even alternation of work and prayer, founding Monte Cassino, the first monastery in Italy. So the monastic movement began to spread in Europe. Since the VI century began to build monasteries in England and Ireland.

In Kievan Rus, monasticism began after the adoption of Christianity. Kiev-Pechersky is one of the first monasteries in Ukraine, founded in 1051 by the monk Anthony, originally from Lyubech.

Communal buildings were required for communal life. The church was a priority - prayers were the main occupation of the monks. The dormitory, refectory and other buildings were located around the monastery, the temples were preferably on the south side in the sun. There were also a kitchen, a bakery, workshops and workshops. Life was quiet, without noise and fuss. Hospitality was part of the monastery rule, the guest house was usually located in the outer courtyard. In popular pilgrimage centers, guest houses were overwhelmed, and monasteries built hotels in the city, outside the monastic cloister. The estates and guest houses belonging to the monasteries became the main source of their income.

Throughout the centuries, monks and nuns have done many good deeds. They collected books and copied them, opened schools and hospitals. The monks were the most educated members of society, and often the only educated. Medieval monasteries were also places of distribution of alms to the poor.

At the beginning of the XIV century, monasteries in England were the most numerous. In 1530, Henry VIII severed relations with Rome and dissolved most of the monasteries. Some of them near large villages were preserved as cathedrals or parish churches, others were sold to wealthy families, the rest were demolished. The monasteries did not return to England until centuries later.

The prestige of religious communities suffered from anti-church sentiment at the end of the 18th century (the culmination of the struggle against the Jesuits), many of them were destroyed. Especially in France during the French Revolution (for example, one of the most ancient). The monasteries were never again able to regain the power they once held.

Nevertheless, in the 19th century, religious sentiments returned in society, and a revival of the great Christian monuments of the Middle Ages began, when monasticism was at its peak. By the end of the 20th century, in most Western countries, monks again stepped up their activities in the educational and charitable fields, devoting themselves to the first goal of monasticism - contemplation.

On February 20, 395, the first convent in history was opened in Bethlehem. Unfortunately, it has not survived to our time, but other equally ancient monasteries have come down to us, which we will talk about today.

Since the monks do not like worldly fuss (from which they go to mountains, deserts or behind high impregnable walls), outsiders are not allowed into many monasteries under any circumstances. Therefore, we will talk about those ancient monasteries of the world that are open to pilgrims and ordinary tourists.

Many pages of the Bible are devoted to the Sinai Peninsula, because there, on the top of the mountain of the same name, Moses was given the Ten Commandments, inscribed on the Tablets of the Covenant. It is no wonder that this part of Egypt has been a place for pilgrimage and a site for archaeological excavations for centuries. Where, according to legend, the Lord God appeared to the prophet and the Burning Bush grew, in 557 one of the oldest Christian monasteries in the world appeared, named after its creator, St. Catherine. 12 chapels, a library, an icon hall, a refectory, sacristies and even a hotel are hidden by a monumental monastery, fortified during the time of Emperor Justinian. Over the centuries of existence, it has been overgrown with new buildings, without stopping holding services and receiving believers. The temple has turned into a real city in the desert. The archbishop of Sinai, the smallest diocese in the world, presides there. Of the shrines, in addition to the Burning Bush and the chapel of her name, which keeps the ancient mosaic of the Transfiguration, the guests of the monastery are waiting for the well, near which Moses met his future companion - one of the daughters of Joseph. The holy temple was never destroyed: even the Prophet Muhammad and the Arab caliphs, the sultans of Turkey and Napoleon Bonaparte helped him. Only in the fall of 2013, due to political unrest in Egypt, the monastery of St. Catherine was temporarily closed. For information on when you can get here, see http://www.sinaimonastery.com/.

For the fifteenth century, there has been a "House of the Lord" in mysterious Tibet - the great Jokhang Monastery, where the initiations of the Panchen Lama and the Dalai Lama take place. Legend has it that it was in this place that Tibetan Buddhism was born. The first value brought to the temple was an ancient statue consecrated personally by Shakyamuni Buddha. Lhasa grew around the Jokhang, and with it the temple itself grew: an imposing four-story building, decorated with a dharma wheel and golden fallow deer, was rebuilt in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. A heavy share fell to the Buddhist shrine: much was destroyed during the Mongol invasion, and during the years of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, the Jokhang was used as a pig shed and a military base. Fortunately, in 1980 the monastery was restored and was soon included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Many treasures are hidden behind its walls: a golden urn donated by the Chinese emperor Qianlong, a luxurious edition of the Tripitaka made of sandalwood, ancient thangkas dating back to the 7th-9th centuries, and gilded statues of the founders of Tibetan Buddhism - King Srontsangambo and his wives. The monastery is open to adherents of all religions: religious ceremonies of all schools of Buddhism and even the indigenous religion of Tibet, the Bonpo, are held here. You can learn more about the history of the Jokhang on the UNESCO Attraction page http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/707.

Little information has been preserved in the history of the Holy Savior Convent, located near the village of Kostomarovo in the Voronezh region. One of the legends attributes its construction to Andrew the First-Called himself, the other refers to the 12th century. True or not, but there is no doubt about the venerable age of the unique Russian monastery, carved right into the rock. Much here reminds of Byzantium: 12 chalk pillars hold the rounded vaults of the temple, which can accommodate up to two thousand believers, and its walls are decorated with beautiful Orthodox frescoes. A long and low corridor leads to the Cave of Repentance - to get here, you need to bow in bow. Only a miracle saved the Holy Savior Monastery during the reign of the Soviets: the last monk, Father Peter, was shot, and the temple was flooded so as not to distract people from building communism. But the Russian Golgotha ​​survived: in 1993, the first service after oblivion was held here. The temple was restored and turned into a nunnery, and only the miraculous Kostomarovskaya icon of the Mother of God, riddled with bullets, reminds of the terrible times. Those who have visited the Holy Savior Monastery say that this is a real place of power, where natural harmony and divine purity are combined. Those who have not yet reached Russian Palestine will have to travel by train from Voronezh to Rossosh (exit at the Podgornoye station), and then by bus to the village of Kostomarovo.