Cloisters were built to train the human mind.

Monks lived in a loop. Walk. Pray. Reflect. Repeat.

The architecture forced stillness. A covered walkway, a garden, open sky above. This wasn’t accidental. Medieval builders understood something we’ve forgotten: your environment shapes your thoughts.

Cloisters turned space into discipline, silence into focus, routine into clarity. They weren’t decorative. They were tools.

And today, we build cities that do the opposite.

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Photo (left): Cloister of Poblet Monastery, Spain (founded 1153). By Jaume Meneses - Flickr: Monestir de Poblet, CC BY-SA 2.0.

Photo (center): The Cloisters at Gloucester Cathedral, UK. By Christopher JT Cherrington - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Photo (right): The Romanesque cloister of Santo Domingo de Silos, Spain. By Jose Luis Filpo Cabana - Own work, CC BY 3.0.