Lynn Smythe
Monastery Gardens
January 14th 2008 19:21
Santa Maria de El Paular Benedictine Monastery
Glisten'd with the dew of night,
Nor herb nor floweret glisten'd there,
But was carved in the cloister-arches as fair."
-Sir Walter Scott, The Lay of the Last Minstrel, Canto II
Monastic communities were designed to be largely self sufficient. The monks needed to grow all the plant material they required for their daily survival such as foods, seasonings, medications, dye plants, aromatics, pest and insect control.
St. Benedict
St. Benedict was the founder of the Benedictine monastic order. St. Benedict drew up his monastic rule in the 6th century for use by his monastic community in Monte Cassino, Italy. The following passage is from the 66th chapter of the Regula Sancti Benedicti (Rule of Saint Benedict):
"Whenever possible the monastery should be laid out so that everything essential, that is to say water, mills, garden and workshops for the plying of the various crafts, is found within the monastery walls."
The location of monasteries was usually keyed to discovering a source of water such as a natural spring, pond or river. The water source could be diverted to various locations throughout the monastery to be used for cooking, bathing and watering the gardens. Discovering a reliable source of water was an essential element necessary for the self sufficiency of the monasteries.
Types of Monastic Gardens
"And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. And a river went out of Eden, to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads."
-Genesis 2:8-10
Cloister garth
The cloister garth was a centrally located courtyard surrounded by the main buildings of the monastery namely the church, refectory, and dormitory. It contained covered alleys or hallways with a central portion open to the sky and enabled the monks to walk and meditate while partaking of the fresh air. The central courtyard section was sometimes planted with herbs and flowers. This garden was often divided into quadrants thought to represent either the four rivers of the garden of Eden or the four elements, namely earth, air, fire and water. The cloister garth often included a central fountain or sundial as part of its design.
Cemetery/orchard
When monks passed away at the monastery they were buried in the monasteries cemetery. The cemetery and surrounding grounds would often be planted with various fruit and nut trees such as apples, pears, cherries, walnuts and almonds. The fruits harvested from the trees, besides being used for culinary purposes, were also used to make a variety of beverages such as cider and perry. Perry was a fermented beverage similar to cider but made with pears instead of apples.
Kitchen
The kitchen garden was known in Latin as the hortus. Culinary herbs were grown in the kitchen garden along with many varieties of vegetables. This garden was located close to the kitchen in order to facilitate the preparation of meals. The poultry and other animal pens would have been located close to the kitchen garden as the manure cleaned out of the pens would have provided a ready source of organic fertilizer that could be used on the garden planting beds.
In addition to the various types of vegetables grown in the kitchen garden a variety of culinary herbs such as dill, oregano and parsley would also be grown in this garden.
My complete article, Monastery Gardens; Ancient Herbal Folklore, can be found on the Associated Content website.
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Comment by Cibbuano
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Comment by Lynn Smythe
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Turkish Delight - awesome. That's made with rose water, I'll probably be adding a recipe for that in a future blog.
Take care,
Lynn
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