CLOISTER, (Latin, clausum, enclosed, shut in ;) a covered range of building attached to a monastic or collegiate estab lishment, forming a passage of communication between the various buildings, more especially between the church and chapter-house. Cloisters were employed as places of medi tation and recreation by the inmates of the etablishment ; and sometimes of retirement and study, an- which purpose we occasionally find them arranged with cells on one side, as at Gloucester Cathedral, and also at Durham, where such cells were termed carrols : they appear to have been used likewise as places of sepulture. Cloisters are invariably found contiguous to the church, ranged round three or four sides of a quad rangular area, having on the outer side a series of windows with piers and columns looking into the quadrangle, and in the inner side, which was in other respects plain, a number of doorways communicating with the surrounding buildings, the chapter-house, refectory, schools, and such like. The windows in our English cloisters are glazed, and the whole length of the ambulatories arched over with a vaulted ceiling ; in some cases, a stone seat or bench is carried round the wall opposite the windows. Attached to the cloister is usually a lavatory or conduit, at which the monks washed previous to entering the refectory; the remains of one such are to be seen in the centre of the quadrangle at Durham, as also at Wells; lavatories also exist in the cloisters of Nor wich, Gloucester, and Worcester. See LAVATORY.
In England cloisters seem to have been appended to all cathedrals, and to the majority of collegiate and monastic establishments, in short, to all the larger religious houses. Frequent examples are also to be found on the continent, in Italy, France, and Germany, and in sonic eases of great magnitude; they are in the main similar to those in England, though of different styles, and therefore varying in detail ; one difference consists in the windows being unglazed, on :recount, no doubt, of the difference of olimate ; in some instances are found specimens of painting in fresco on the walls.
Of the continental cloisters, Air. Hope says, "Those of the Latin church arc all of them in the Lombard style ; such as those of San Lorenzo and Santa Sabina at Rome, and of San Stephano at Bologna, are small and rude, and inure like the courts of a mean habitation ; others, as those of San Giovanni Laterano at Rome, and those of San Zeno at Verona, are spacious, and formed of columns of the most titntastical shapes; some coupled, twisted, and with spiral flutes; and glittering—those at Rome with white marble inlaid with porphyry, with serpentine and with gilt enamel ; and those at Verona with the gold-coloured marble of the Euganenn mountains. The cloisters of the cathedral church of Zurich, and of the monastery of Subiaco, in the papal states., are amongst the most elegant of continental examples. The latter was erected in 1235, and that of San Zeno, at Verona, in 1123." The following account of the Campo-Santo at Pisa, one of the most famous cloisters in Europe, is given by Britton : —"Its form is an oblong square, or irregular parallelogram, measuring 430 and 415 feet in its longest extent, by 136 and 139 feet at its ends. The width of each walk is about
32 feet. It was commenced in 1278 by Giovanni de Pisa, and a chapel, adjoining its east end, was completed in 1464. Between the covered walk and tire enclosed area, is a series of sixty-two windows, having semi-circular arches, and adorned with varied tracery, supported by tall light columns which divide each space into four lights. Some of these were formerly glazed, but the others were left open. The floor is paved with white marble having bands of blue, and the inner roof is formed of timber. On the walls are numerous old paintings of great interest, being some of the first productions on the revival of that art at the beginning of the fourteenth century. There is also a fine collection of marble sarcophagi, fragments of sculpture, &e." Amongst many other of the more noted cloisters of the continent, may be mentioned that belonging to the Monastery of Batalha in Portugal. It is extensive and highly enriched, the length of each ambulatory being 152 feet, and the width 17i- feet ; in the centre of the enclosed quadrangle is a cistern, and in one of its angles a large fountain.
Attached to the collegiate chapel of St. Stephen, West minster, are the remains of one of the most highly enriched and beautiful cloisters in England, which was erected by Dean Chambers in the time of King 'Henry the Eighth. It is the only example remaining of a cloister of two stories; it has two oratories, or ehantry-chapols, projecting into the quadrangle, and approached respectively from the upper and lower western avenues. The root' is vaulted, covered with fan-tracery, and adorned with finely-sculptured bosses and shields. The dimensions are added to the following table.
The areas at the entrance of some continental churches partake of the nature of cloisters, but are more particularly styled atria. See ECCLESIASTICAL ARCIIITECTURE.
The annexed is a table giving the dimensions and some other information relative to the cloisters attached to our English cathedrals. The particulars are collected from Brittou's works, and other similar sources.
° On north side of cathedral.
h Date about 14u0; had octagonal lavatory in centre of area. On south side of cathedral.
Completed 1390; has recesses or carols in the south walk, and in the north a spacious lavatory; the roof covered with elaborate fan-tracery.
d In rums.
° Ties timber vaulting with ribs and bosses; on north side of cathe dral; (late about 1300.
f Commenced in 1299, completed in 1.130; lws two lavatories at the angle.
e Date about 1250; situate on south side of cathedral.
h Erected between 1407 and 1466 ; on the smith side of cathedral. It has only three avenues, the fourth side being the wall of the nave ; the eastern and western sides are of two stories; there is a lavatory in the area.
Date 1380.
k Consisted of two stories; the chapter-house was enclosed within the avenues. Destroyed.