The monastery adjacent to the church of San Nicola di Trullas was built by the Camaldolese monks.

The Camaldolese monasteries were places where the monks lived, prayed and worked together, respecting the Rule of St Benedict, that organised their activities, and guided their spiritual father, the abbot or the prior (i.e. The deputy abbot). In the middle ages, a monk’s life was marked by prayer, that alternated with other moments of work and some rest (figs. 1-2). The bell ringing announced the various moments of the day to monks and peasants who lived near the monasteries.

Fig. 1 - Kitchen of Vallombrosa (https://www.flickr.com/photos/pinomoscato/sets/72157626426353731/detail/).

Fig. 2 - Dormitory of San Damiano, Assisi (http://www.assisiofm.it/foto2/148.jpg).

The monks prayed in their cells and in church, where they met at regular intervals of the day and night. The common prayer was carried out in precise moments of the day, known as “canonical hours”. It began before dawn with matins, then breakfast, then prayers, that coincided with dawn. Other moments of prayer were set for mid morning, towards midday, in the afternoon and at sunset (vespers). After dinner, there was complines, the last moment of prayer before night rest (fig. 3).

Fig. 3 - Théophile Gide, Le Réfectoire de la Grande Chartreuse, Nîmes, Musée des Beaux-Arts (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5wB_JCC8P1o/Ulbw7nRRCPI/AAAAAAAADuQ/XPjZivygb-U/s1600/theophile-gide-the-refectory.jpg).

The monastery mainly used what was produced within it, therefore the monks dedicated part of their time to various manual jobs, but rarely worked in the fields. It was mainly servants, peasants or secular monks known as conversi, men who were more peasants than monks, who cultivated the land. The monks mainly dedicated their time to study and writing. They gathered in the scriptorium, copied manuscripts and made them beautiful by painting miniatures on them (fig. 4).

Fig. 4 - Medieval Scriptorium (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/aL9_xByNzc0/UccgvXttBwI/AAAAAAAACKU/guhzrG9AtkY/s1600/Scriptorium+medievale.jpg).