Customer Reviews

Cloisters of Europe: Gardens of Prayer (Religion)

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Stunning photos by a brilliant architectural photographer. You can hear the sounds of the monasteries in the photos. Truly a book to just enjoy in peace. Uncluttered by words, the photos speak volumes.

This is a wonderful book... it just came in the mail and it's one of the best books I've received all year. It is oversize with 192 pages, not "thin" at all, with large full color and full page photos, and appropriate text about the history of monasteries and more.

Most of the book is devoted solely to the photos, so you can study the details and see what made this building technique so long-lasting and special. As described on the cover, The cloister is "the symbol of space at the heart of the universe of silence and mysticism."

You cannot help but be moved when you read these lines.

I have always described some of the work I do as creating a "symphony of silence and sound." I spend a lot of time in the peace and tranquility of the mind, and until now I never considered it "prayer." But perhaps in fact it is.

The sanctuary I have created in my own small world is my own private monastery, and with this incredible book I can now create it in wood and in stone.

The large scale museum-quality photographs show close up details and long view shots from Cloisters all over Europe, including some of the most beautiful in Spain.

The Camino de Santiago awaits. I will begin exploring with this tome, and work to create these beautiful "Gardens of Prayer." I want to live in the space shown on the cover, in a reflection of shadow and sun. What could be more peaceful than this?

I will also look at the book "The Great Monasteries of Europe." I have visited a few and hope to build my own. It will be my crowning glory to donate to the town and my final resting place in silence and sound.

Read more about monasteries on Wikipedia:
Monastery (plural: monasteries) denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer (e.g. an oratory) as well as the domestic ...

From "The Great Monasteries of Europe" (another book I'd like to read):
"In addition to serving as religious refuges, monasteries provided sanctuary for the pursuits of art, education, science and book production."

This is EXACTLY what I'm working towards right now in La Antigua and lovely Lake Atitlan, Guatemala, where hundreds of monasteries were built in the middle ages. Many mission groups come there every day and I seem to have become a small part of it. We will see what the future will bring.

I've aready sold the book on - good quality production - but very very thin