Published: 2024-11-20

Everyday life of the Camaldolese monks at the Pažaislis monastery as seen by travellers in the 18th and early 19th centuries

Mindaugas Paknys
Saeculum Christianum. Historical Writings
Section: Rozprawy i Artykuły
https://doi.org/10.21697/sc.2024.31.2.11

Abstract

Camaldolese monasteries often attract interest because of their rather closed and austere daily life. Quite scarce historical sources - inventories, records of expenses, correspondence - are used to get to know it. Such sources can also include rare descriptions made by visitors to the monastery. This article discusses three descriptions of the Pažaislis monastery near Kaunas, written during the time of the Camaldolese monks (until 1830). Very interesting and complementary impressions about the Camaldolese monks were left by the Polish writer, Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz; the young man from Gdansk, Carl Feyerabend; and the French writer, Aubry de la Motraye. The descriptions in the diaries provide interesting, though not always the same, information about the life of the monks in the monastery; the authors particularly emphasised the artistic qualities of the architecture and art of the Pažaislis monastery.

Keywords:

Camaldolese Order, Pažaislis, Baroque, monastery, diaries, daily life

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Citation rules

Paknys, M. (2024). Everyday life of the Camaldolese monks at the Pažaislis monastery as seen by travellers in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Saeculum Christianum. Historical Writings, 31(2), 153–163. https://doi.org/10.21697/sc.2024.31.2.11

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