olivermoss | NYC Trip Day 5

I had a bit of a slow start to the day because I'd walked several miles the previous day and was feeling a bit run down. But, I pulled myself up and got myself going anyway. I had limited time there and the plan for the day was The Cloisters, the place I'd wanted to visit for decades.

The Cloisters is a weird place. It's literally chunks of cloisters from Europe made into a giant Franken-cloister, with a scoop of Gothic Cathedral on the side. One is the Cuxa cloister from the northeast Spanish Pyrenees and was founded in 878. They were broken down brick by brick, remade here, with some weathered stone to connect them and also they added in a bunch of stained glass windows from the thousands they'd scarfed up from across the continent. The result is a strange sort of building that kind of reminds me of... have you ever played a video game that has a 'glitched out' or liminal level with assets from various other levels stuck together in weird ways? Yeah, it's like that.

Scoop of Gothic Cathedral seen from the Cuxa section:

Some of the tapestries:

I was far more interested in the doors and the architecture in general than the thousands of artworks in the space. It's all cool, but I was mostly interested in the building and also the various implications of the pieces even being here. The Morgan Museum hoovered up valuable books from around Europe, this place hoovered up mostly medieval art and architecture and then there's the Met which is just... the sheer weight of the Met and the collections there is a trip, But, that is another post.

Doorway into the tapestry section:

Doors:

Taking pictures was a bit tricky because it was swamped with school groups. I'd bought a ticket ahead of time online, which was good because they did stop selling admissions that day. Again, buying tickets ahead of time is how to museum in NYC.

View from the Gothic bit:

I mean, as least I know what I'm visually interested in? I don't know if I am fully happy with any of these pics, but at least I snipped some. For some I waited like 20 minutes for an opening to shoot.

Also I many many attempts at doing a selfie in the main courtyard. Having a portrait photo done right there was like a thing when I was growing up. I never managed to get one, but I tried to at least get something. What I'd give for a proper photoshoot there, and what I would have given when I was younger.