Cloister (klaustar or kloštar)

A Cloister (klaustar in Croatian from the Latin claustrum – claudere: to (en)close) is an element of monastic architecture originating directly from the countryside villa of the Roman peristyle type; a rectangular inner yard usually surrounded by porticos supported by columns, attached to a church on one side, while the other sides are enclosed by the monastic buildings. In the yard, there is usually a well with a stone crown, a garden and often a cemetery for the priests and monks.

The cloister here is constructed in late Renaissance style and it connects the monastery from three sides and the church from one. Until some two hundred years ago monks were also buried in the monastery. In 1744, a well was built in the centre of the cloister in which the Franciscans collected rainwater from the roof of the monastery for drinking.

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