Located on four acres of Manhattan's scenic Fort Tryon Park along the Hudson River, The Cloisters is The Metropolitan Museum of Art's branch devoted exclusively to the art and architecture of the Middle Ages.
Opened in 1938, the building is composed primarily of elements from five medieval French cloisters and other monastic institutions. Three gardens, especially beautiful and fragrant in the Spring and Summer months, are based on ones described in different medieval sources and works of art.
Many of the five thousand objects at The Cloisters date largely from the Twelfth through Fifteenth Centuries, with some created as far back as the beginning of the Ninth Century. They include superb examples of Romanesque and Gothic art, including paintings, sculptures, illuminated manuscripts, stained glass, metalwork, ivories and enamels.
