HISTORY OF THE MONASTERY

The History of the Monastery exhibition offers a comprehensive insight into the monastery’s architectural and historical development, the lives of the Carthusian and Camaldolese monastic orders, their symbols, notable personalities and their works, the Hussite invasions, and the eventual dissolution of both religious communities at this site. The exhibition also provides a glimpse into the life and culture of the people of Zamagurie, whose history has long been closely connected with that of the monastery.

MONK’S HERMITAGE

The exhibition housed in the Monk’s Hermitage introduces visitors to the daily life and work of a Camaldolese monk. The building bears the inscription “1719, 14 JULY” on its main façade, commemorating the reconstruction of the monastery following the arrival of the Camaldolese order. The hermitage consists of four rooms and a corridor.

The front right room is the dormitory, which served as the monk’s living space for rest, meals, and spiritual contemplation. The front left room is the oratory, containing a small altar where the monk devoted himself to prayer and meditation. The rear left room, known as the laboratory, was used for the monk’s manual work and today houses an exhibition of an 18th-century pharmacy. The smallest room, at the rear right, served as a woodshed and storage room. The other Camaldolese hermitages followed the same layout and function.

The Archaeological Exhibition presents the results of archaeological research carried out at the monastery between 1967 and 1970. It is housed in one of the hermitages, originally the residence of the Prior, the head of the monastery.

The interior walls of the building outline the floor plan of the original Carthusian hermitages, which have not survived within the monastery complex. All Carthusian hermitages had a square layout and consisted of three rooms, with the entrance located at the front, opening onto the Great Cloister.

The front room served as a large workshop, the northern room as a woodshed, and the room facing the garden functioned as the monk’s living quarters (bedroom). In this simply furnished room, the monk rested from 7:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. and again from 2:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. It was also the place where he prayed, studied, and ate his daily meals, which were delivered directly to his cell by a lay brother through the cloister.

The Prior’s house, situated directly opposite the church, was aligned with the main altar. In front of the building, the bell tower with its Baroque sundial has survived to this day.