The Cloisters

The Cloisters is located in Fort Tryon Park, New York City. It is the branch of The Metropolitan Museum of Art; reconstructed in the 1930s with several elements of the European medieval abbeys. 

It was a pretty Saturday afternoon when my friend, David and I decided to go there. We took the A train to 190th street as directed in the museum's website. But when we got off the train, somehow, we missed the exit station by the elevator. We came out looking at tall uncharacteristic apartment buildings. With just one road and a hill on one side, we walked along the road which led us to a walkway up the hill. It took us less than 15 minutes before we finally reached a park overlooking the Hudson River. Families were picnicking, while friends and lovers were taking a nice long stroll in the park. 

Finally, there it was - The Cloisters: charming yet unassuming.

The Cloisters incorporates parts from five French cloistered abbeys. Buildings at Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa, Saint-Guilhem-le-Desert, Bonnefont-en-Comminges, Trie-dn-Bigorre, and Froville were all disassembled brick-by-brick before being shipped to New York, and later reassembled in Fort Tryon Park between 1934 and 1938.

The Cloisters collection contains approximately five thousand European medieval works of art, with a particular emphasis on pieces dating from the 12th through 15th centuries. The Cloisters is on the Romanesque and Gothic periods. The Cloisters also holds many medieval manuscripts and illuminated books, including the Limbourg brothers' Les Belles Heures du Duc de Berry and Jean Pucelle's book of hours for Jeanne d'Evreux. Renowned for its architectural sculpture, The Cloisters also rewards visitors with its exquisite stained glass, metalwork, enamels, ivories, and tapestries art pieces.  

The bricked walls, high ceilings, and religious statutes of medieval times gave us a peace of mind as we wondered from one gallery to the next. 

The Cloisters is landscaped with gardens planted according to horticultural information obtained from medieval manuscripts and artifacts, and the structure includes multiple medieval-style cloistered herb gardens. The gardens and the area surrounding The Cloisters are very well-maintained. It is just relaxing without the hustle and bustle of city life, and a charm off the beaten path in New York City.