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Last weekend, I was able to visit one of my bucket list gardens in upper Manhattan’s Fort Tryon Park. After a flight, then a subway ride, and finally a long climb up the hill in the park, I found The Met Cloisters. The Cloisters are a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and are dedicated to the art, architecture, and most importantly…the gardens of the Middle Ages. The building was opened to the public in 1938, and the building itself is a beautiful work of architecture with columns, arches, and doorways recovered from medieval French monasteries. The Cloisters overlook the Hudson River, and are a unique way to experience gardens lost to time.
Medieval gardens were meant to be a peaceful and pleasurable place that was intentionally separated from the dark wild or dangers outside of the castle or monastery walls. The enclosed garden, or hortus conclusus, served the purpose of escape from the dark interior castles, while providing a safe place for pleasure and nutrition. As the world becomes more fraught and insular, I often think that garden design might lean a bit more medieval. It certainly seems like it in places like Los Angeles, where the wealthy hide their gardens behind tall privacy shrubs.
The view seen while hiking to the entrance of the museum.
Exploring the Four Cloisters
At the heart of the museum are four distinct cloisters, which are open-air covered walkways surrounding central courtyards and gardens:
Cuxa Cloister: The largest and most central of the four, featuring distinctive rose-colored marble columns salvaged from the 12th-century Benedictine monastery of Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa in the French Pyrenees. Its courtyard garden blooms with medieval plant species and fruit trees. I spent a good amount of time sitting and taking in the scene.
The Cuxa Cloister features a large central basin and four quadrants, each has a tree and is filled with pleasurable plants.
Saint-Guilhem Cloister: Known for its intricate, highly detailed Romanesque carvings made from white limestone. Sourced from Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert, its delicate foliage and animal motifs showcase the exquisite craftsmanship of 12th-century stonecutters.
Photo Credit: Met website, This cloister was less of a garden, and more of a solarium.
Bonnefont Cloister: Constructed with elements from a 14th-century Cistercian abbey in southern France, this cloister features a bustling herbal garden. The planting beds are meticulously arranged according to authentic medieval horticultural texts, featuring herbs used historically for medicine, cooking, and dyes.
This cloister featured herbs and vegetables, but also plants used in cleaning and medieval magic.
Trie Cloister: The smallest and most delicate space, incorporating late-Gothic architecture from a 15th-century convent in Trie-sur-Baïse. Its garden focuses on flora featured in late medieval artwork, providing a lush backdrop for carved capitals depicting biblical and legendary scenes.
Photo credit: The Met Website
The Unicorn Tapestries
The Met Cloisters also house The Unicorn Tapestries (The Hunt of the Unicorn), when you need to cool off after spending time in the gardens. Woven in the Netherlands around 1500 using rich wool, silk, and silver-gilded threads, this series of seven monumental hangings depicts a noble hunt for the mythical beast.
Renowned for their vivid colors and incredible detail, while including over 100 species of accurately depicted plants, the tapestries weave together Christian imagery and secular medieval love symbolism. The most famous panel, The Unicorn in Captivity, shows the pristine, unharmed beast tied to a tree inside a fence among a bed of wildflowers, symbolizing both marriage and rebirth. They sit inside a room with multiple large tapestries covering the walls, which makes one feel quite small!
The plants depicted in this tapestry are so delicately woven. I did not realize how large these tapestries were!
Field Notes:
We finally got rain while I was away and my gardens are very happy for it. Of course, after a long trip I need to get back out there and pull many a weed while the soil is still wet, and plant succession crops for fall harvest. Drop me a line if you live in Madison and want some free Zinnia’s for a cut flower bouquet. Will add some photos to the community group post weeding!
Plotter’s Commons:
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Until next Thursday,
Ken Welch
About the Author
Ken Welch is a garden writer with a very serious degree in Horticulture. When his city lacked a community garden, he helped build one. He teaches new gardeners how to grow their own food.
Cibus Est Imperium | Food is Power
