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Jerónimos Monastery, Portugal -

Jerónimos Monastery in Lisbon dates back to 1495. The building is one of the most prominent examples of the late Portuguese Gothic Manueline style of architecture found anywhere in the country. The cloisters are especially decorative, sculptured with richly ornate maritime motifs representative of Portugal's 15th-century Age of Discovery.

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Gloucester Cathedral, England -

One of the UK's great ecclesiastical wonders, Gloucester Cathedral was consecrated in 1100. In 1327, King Edward II was buried in an elaborate shrine at Gloucester. A highlight is the Great Cloister, the architecture of which showcases the earliest surviving fan vaults in England, having been designed between 1351 and 1377.

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Monreale Cathedral, Italy -

Located in Palermo, Sicily, Monreale is one of the greatest examples of Norman architecture in Europe. The splendid cloister, completed in 1200, is also one the finest both in size and beauty of detail.

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Santa Maria sopra Minerva, Italy -

As befitting one of the major churches of the Order of Preachers (also known as the Dominicans) in Rome, this church features a stunning interior, a visual treat carried over into the cloisters, the ceiling of which is painted with the mysteries of the rosary and scenes from the life of St. Thomas Aquinas.

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Amalfi Cathedral, Italy -

Set adjacent to Amalfi's medieval Roman Catholic cathedral is the charming Cloister of Paradise. Completed in 1268, the arcade features Moorish style interlaced arches, supported by 120 slender columns that surround a small garden.

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Saint-Michel de Grandmont Priory, France -

This well-preserved 12th-century priory in Hérault is the only surviving building from the Order of Grandmont. The solid Romanesque cloister is where Grandmontine monks would have walked in bare feet, and in perpetual silence.

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Santo Domingo de Silos, Spain -

The 11th-century Santo Domingo de Silos Abbey in the province of Burgos is renowned for its two-story cloister, considered a masterpiece of Romanesque art. The lower gallery is supported by paired columns, some of them twisted, surmounted by capitals with dragons, centaurs, lattices, and mermaids.

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Salisbury Cathedral, England -

Completed in 1330, Salisbury Cathedral in the city of Salisbury has the tallest spire in England. The cloisters date back to 1240. The North Cloisters feature elaborately carved tracery and columns crafted from local Purbeck and Chilmark stone.

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Santa Maria da Vitoria Monastery, Portugal -

The Royal Cloister of the Santa Maria da Vitória Monastery in Batalha was built between 1448 and 1477. It features a series of remarkable arcade screens supported by highly ornate colonettes.

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Montmajour Abbey, France -

Montmajour near Arles was built as a fortified Benedictine monastery between the 10th and 18th centuries. The austere-looking cloisters date back to the 12th century, with the north gallery the oldest part of the arcade. The ruins are a designated National Historical Monument.

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Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran, Italy -

Attached to the dazzling Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran in Rome is a monastery certainly worth a diversion for its medieval cloister, the largest in the city. Look out for a gold mosaic inscription on a blue background running the south side, just above the arches of the marble columns, all arranged in pairs, some twisted, some entwined, and others decorated with gleaming mosaics.

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Sénanque Abbey, France -

Sénanque Abbey near the village of Gordes in Provence is famous for its lavender fields. The building itself is equally well known for its outstanding Romanesque architecture, of which the simple and unfussy inner cloister is especially emblematic.

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Monastery of Sant Cugat, Spain -

The 12th-century cloisters are one of the outstanding architectural features of the Monastery of Sant Cugat in Catalonia. With a length of more than 100 ft (30 m), it's another impressive example of Romanesque art.

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Westminster Abbey, England -

Dating back to between the 13th and 15th centuries, the cloisters at Westminster Abbey in London were one of the busiest parts of the building, where the monks spent much of their time.

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Monastery of San Juan de Duero, Spain -

Soria in Spain boasts an especially alluring visitor attraction, the wonderfully evocative and partially ruined cloister of the Monastery of San Juan de Duero, which boasts a series of exposed and gracefully interlaced arches. The medieval monastery belonged to the Knights Hospitaller.

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Moissac Abbey, France -

Moissac Abbey in southwestern France includes a wonderful cloister featuring Romanesque sculpture of exceptional quality. Embedded in one of the columns is the cloister's consecration stone, dated 1100.

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Convent of the Assumption of Calatrava, Spain -

Located in Almagro, the Convent of the Assumption of Calatrava dates back to the 16th century. Of great historical significance, not least for the exceptional preservation of its architecture, the convent is no longer in use but can be visited. An audio tour takes in both galleries of the serene cloisters.

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Alpirsbach Abbey, Germany -

A former Benedictine monastery and later Protestant seminary located at Alpirsbach in Baden-Württemberg, the late 11th-century Alpirsbach Abbey includes a cloister of ornate Gothic rib vaulting that was once painted.

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Fossanova Abbey, Italy -

One of the most visually appealing of cloisters included on this list is that found at Fossanova Abbey near the city of Priverno. Appreciated for its frugal serenity, it dates back to the year the church was consecrated, 1135.

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Monastery of Santa Maria de Ripoll, Spain -

While the present church of Santa Maria de Ripoll is mostly a 19th-century rebuild, the tranquil cloister contains most of the monastery's original structure, the first floor having been completed in the early 15th century.

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Convent of Christ, Portugal -

The main cloister of the Convent of Christ in Tomar is a masterpiece mixture of Romanesque, Gothic, Manueline, Renaissance, Mannerist, and Baroque architectural elements. A former Knights Templar stronghold, in 1356 the Convent became the home of the Order of Christ in Portugal.

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Mont-Saint-Michel Abbey, France -

The cloisters of Mont-Saint-Michel Abbey rank among the finest in Europe. Contrary to the tradition, the cloister was not built at the center of the monastery: three arches of the cloister are opened to the sea or to the outside, the purpose being to guide the monks in to meditate.

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Heiligenkreuz Abbey, Austria -

The oldest continuously occupied Cistercian monastery in the world, having been founded in 1133, Heiligenkreuz Abbey, in the southern portion of the Vienna woods, is noted for its cloisters and chapterhouse, which contain the graves of 13 members of the House of Babenberg.

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Alcobaça Monastery, Portugal -

Established in 1153 by the first Portuguese king, Afonso Henriques, Alcobaça Monastery is known for the the tombs of King Pedro I and his mistress, Inês de Castro. But the abbey is equally celebrated for the wonderful Cloister of Silence, one of the largest medieval Cistercian cloisters in Europe.

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Franciscan friary, Croatia -

Dubrovnik's 13th-century Franciscan friary contains two cloisters. The lower cloister was built in Romanesque-Gothic style, while the upper cloister is more Renaissance in form. Both offer visitors a peaceful haven and an opportunity to reflect.

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Muckross Abbey, Ireland -

Located in Killarney National Park, the evocative ruins of Muckross Abbey speak of a violent history. The Franciscan friary was sacked on numerous occasions throughout the 15th and 16th centuries. The abbey's most prominent feature is a central courtyard, which contains a large yew tree itself surrounded by a vaulted cloister.

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Flor da Rosa Monastery, Portugal -

Constructed by the Knights Hospitaller, Flor da Rosa Monastery was completed in 1356 as a fortress church. Over time the building has undergone considerable renovation, including the unusually shaped vaulted cloister, substantially rebuilt in the 16th century. Today, the monastery serves as an upmarket inn.

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St. Martin's Cathedral, Netherlands -

The cloister surrounding the hidden garden of St. Martin's Cathedral in Utrecht dates back to the late 16th century. Together with the chapterhouse it stands in its original form, while much of the surrounding buildings have undergone major renovation.

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Convent of Our Lady of the Assumption, Portugal -

The Convent of Our Lady of the Assumption in Faro is noted for its two floored Coimbrão style cloister with tower buttresses, the architectural style named after the university city of Coimbra in central Portugal. Faro is the gateway to the Algarve, but visitors should make an effort to absorb this delightful location before heading off to the beach resorts.

Sources: (UNESCO) (Visit Europe)

See also: How travel in Europe is about to change

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