Convent

this page is a description of a typical Venetian convent.

Background

A convent is a piece of religious architecture dedicated to housing monastic orders of the catholic church. Each convent in Venice was usually associated with a neighboring church. Some convents were attached to the church, while others were not.

Structure

A convent has several distinctive features which include a fairly basic shape as well as the presence of at least one cloister in the convent. Cloisters are the 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, a refectory and a cell.