Detailed sheets

The cloisters

The cloisters were the heart of monastic community life. It was a large open space surrounded by four sides of porticoes, that allowed the monks to pray and move around even during bad weather. It was often the site of most of the monks’ daily activities, as it was forbidden for the holy men to remain in the dormitory or other service areas out of hours. The monks could access the church, the storeroom, the refectory and their cells directly from the cloisters.

The cloisters was intended as the place to meditate, pray and read. It was rectangular or square and had a well in the centre, that in addition to its primary function, also signified it was a fons vitae (water as the symbol of purification and renewal of spirit).
The Camaldolese monks of San Nicola di Trullas could access the storeroom, refectory or their cells from the cloisters (figs. 1-4).

1
Fig. 1 - The remains of the monastery cloisters seen from above
(photo by Unicity S.p.A.).
2
Fig. 2 - Reconstruction hypothesis of the monastery cloisters (visual by Unicity S.p.A.).
3
Fig. 3 - Reconstruction hypothesis of the monastery cloisters (visual by Unicity S.p.A.).
4
Fig. 4 - Reconstruction hypothesis of the monastery cloisters (visual by Unicity S.p.A.).





Bibliografia

  • A. BONINU, A. PANDOLFI (a cura di), San Nicola di Trullas. Archeologia, Architettura, Paesaggio, Semestene 2010.
  • R. CORONEO, Architettura romanica dalla metà del Mille al primo 300, Nuoro 1993, scheda n. 10.
  • R. DELOGU, L’architettura del medioevo in Sardegna, Roma, 1953.
  • A. PANDOLFI ET ALII, San Nicola di Trullas a Semestene. Chiesa e monastero, in Committenza, scelte insediative e organizzazione patrimoniale nel medioevo (De Re Monastica - I), Atti del Convegno di studio (Tergu, 15-17 settembre 2006), a cura di Letizia Pani Ermini, Spoleto, 2007, pp. 167-206.
  • D. SCANO, Storia dell’arte in Sardegna dall’XI al XIV secolo, Cagliari, 1907.
  • R. SERRA, San Nicola di Trullas, in Sardegna preromanica e romanica, a cura di R. Coroneo e R. Serra, Milano-Cagliari, 2004.
  • A. SODDU, S. DE SANTIS, Signorie monastiche nella Sardegna medievale: il priorato camaldolese di S. Nicola di Trullas, in Annali della Facoltà di Lettere e filosofia dell'Università di Sassari, 1, 2009, pp. 353-378.
  • G. ZANETTI, I camaldolesi in Sardegna, Cagliari, 1974.

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