Tag: Heat

Inside Alcobaca Monastery

Apologies if some factual inaccuracies are made in the following passage. These photos were taken 7 years ago, and the interiors of many buildings are starting to look the same given the haze of time. Interesting feature in many monasteries of the era, and seen here at the Mosteiro de Santa Maria de Alcobaça.

This feature is known as the calefactory, or warming house, where a central, communal fire is kept going for the working monks to gather around to keep themselves warm while reading, writing, translating, etc. Upstairs (seen below) was where important documents were kept as the heat passing nearby helps keep moisture from destroying the documents.