Convent
this page is a description of a typical Venetian convent. For information pertaining to the convents, see Convents
Background
A convent is a type of religious architecture dedicated to housing clerical orders of the Catholic Church, specifically monasteries and nunneries. The construction of convents in Venice began as early as the 800s, and they were built in association with a neighboring church. Some convents were attached to the church, while others were not. While churches are highly ornate, decorated with beautiful ceiling paintings, engraved floor tombstones and plaques, and decorated altars, the convents are much less extravagant. Although some convents had a few paintings within them or sculptures in the courtyard, the majority of convents boasted a rather simplistic style, both inside and out. A picture of the facade of the Convent of the Frari can be seen to the left.
As Venice developed as a city, island communities centralized around a church and a convent. The clerical orders contributed greatly to the development and functionality of communities. Nuns and monks helped care for the sick and ran schools and universities. As the convents became more recognized, wealthy families often sent their daughters to live within them. However, the motives for these families sending their daughters were questionable. In reality, daughters were sent to convents to avoid paying a dowry to the family of a potential husband. Due to this reasoning for admission into convents, the nuns were noticeably less devout, and their faithfulness was questioned. Nuns would often perform for laypeople on the street, singing opera, acting out plays, and even crossdressing to fulfill male roles. Occasionally, superior sisters would allow laypeople into the convent for these performances in exchange for donations. Venice did not have a state-sponsored theatre guild at the time, so this was the main form of entertainment in the city. During the Napoleonic wars, Napoleon decided to act on this disobedience of the Catholic Church by destroying many convents and disbanding clerical orders in the late 1700s.
Structure
A convent has several distinctive features, which include a fairly basic square shape as well as the presence of at least one cloister. Cloisters are the square-shaped courtyards at the center of the convents. Convents generally had one or two floors with several common areas. Common areas generally included a choir room, work room, school room, recreation room, and a refectory. Each member of the convent would also have their own cell, with a few simple pieces of furniture such as a bed and desk. A typical convent floor plan can be seen to the right. The large, blue, square section in the center of the diagram is the cloister. At the top, the convent is attached to a church, which can be seen in yellow. Many of the churches in Venice have a cross-like floor plan. The diagram also includes the refectory (shown in red), a large room where the nuns and monks dine, as well as several other rooms within the convent.
Community Involvement
Churches and convents were crucial to the functionality of a community in Venice. Nuns, in particular, contributed greatly to the city. Nuns were medically trained and provided health services to residents. Additionally, the clerical orders of the convents provided food and services for the poor within the community. Due to their involvement in the community, they held a key role in promoting religion as well as the church and order they were associated with. Today, most convents are not used to house religious orders, but still serve as landmarks in the city of Venice.