Institut NOUVELLE SÉRE VOLUME XLW1998 Rédacteur h4ILOJE R. VASIC Comité de rédaction: Rastko VASIC, Milutin GAR&ANIN, Noël DUVAL (Paris), Maja PAROWC-PESIKAN, Vladislav POPOVIC, Marko POPOWC, Ana PREMK (secrétaire de la rédaction), Nikola TMIC BEOGRAD 1999 Starinar XLIX, Beograd 1998. Late Medieval Monastery Kitchens Forms and Location* MARINA MIHALJEvIc, Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments of Serbia, Beograd / I 1 I I I i In the monasteries of medieval Serbia there are not many material remains which offer a sound basis for reconstructing the appearance of monastery kitchens. In the course of their existence, some monastery complexes were subjected to reconstruction while others still need all encompassing archeological investigation. Still, taking into consideration all available data, we are able to determine the basic features regarding the location, contents and shape of monastery kitchens, all the more so because the existing structures from the XVI and XVII century indicate that the medieval tradition of construction and furnishing of these edifices survived for a long time. In monastery complexes dating from the XI1 and XIII century the location of the kitchen has been determined with certainty in the case of Djurdjevi Stupovi, SopoCani and the monastery of Gradac. In Djurdjevi Stupovi nothing is known of the fittings1, while in both latter cases we find open fireplaces with overhanging chimney constructions. In Sopohni this construction could have been light construction2 and in the kitchen of Gradac monastery four piers could have served as a substructure for a vaulted construction ending in a chimney3. Since no remains of baking ovens have been found, then lack of any remains may indicate that, in the * A abridged version of this text, under the title "Notes on the Features of the Late Monastery Kitchen", was presented on The International Conference "Secular Medieval Architecture in the Balkans and its Preservation" held in Thessaloniki in November 1997. The accompanying drawings are the work of architects Jelena BogdanoviC, Katarina MrkonjiC, Tanja DamljanoviC and Marina MihaljeviC. earliest period, they were not built at all but that bread was baked in earthenware on open fireplaces. The remains of monastery kitchens and bakeries dating from the XTV and XV century in the monasteries of the Holy Archangels, Nova Pavlica, Pavlovci and Kastaljan offer more information on the possible features of a monastery kitchen. However, the kitchen or rather the kitchen complex of SopoCani, continually under construction and modification from the time the monastery was founded until the end of the XVI centu#, is certainly the most instructive example of the different fittings and contents a monastery kitchen and its surroundings could have. The kitchen of SopoCani monastery is located in the immediate midst of the refectory. It is a part of a larger architectural complex which includes the refectory and a building made of four large auxiliary spaces at the western end of the complex (Fig. 1.). The organic connection between the refectory and the kitchen was the reason for its functional continuity throughout the entire period of the monastery's existence, even in times when life was dwindling and subsequent being revived in the monastery. 2 0.K a ~ n & ,H c ~ p a m s a t a aa p m e r r y p e u KOH3epBaTOpCKki pUOBl4 y MaHaCTHpy Conoham, ca0ILUl~eWm, Eeorpan 1984, 19-20. A reconstruction of the possible original appearance of this fireplace according to 0. KandiC has been published in C. IIonosuh, K p m y xpyry, A p m e m y p a ~ a ~ m p a y cpe,mbo~e~o~ Cp6h=j~, ~ o j Rorp&Q 1994, 277-278, cn. 102.2. A. Jypum@ r p a ~ a q pe3ynraw , apxeonoum pa floe% R o r p a n 1989, 12-16. On the dating of the edifices from the monastery complex cf. 0. K~H.QuR,Op. tit, 16-28. i a Marina Mihaljevit Fig. 1. - SopoCani monastery - Ground plan of the kitchen with the refectory (after Next to the refectory we find a room with a triangular open fireplace which has been identified as the space of the original monastery kitchen fiom the XI11 century. At one point, probably around the end of XIV century, the space of the refectory was reduced and one part of it turned into a bakery. In one corner of this room we find the construction of an oven platform with a circular stone paved surface on top of it which once held the oven calotte, 2.40 m in diameter (Fig. 2.)j. The size of the oven certainly shows the size of the monastic brotherhood in those days. The room which was used as a kitchen during the later Middle Ages is located within the edifice at the western end of the complex, right next to the original kitchen. This is a space of rectangular ground plan which served as an entrance to the entire building (Fig. 3.). In its south-western comer, a construction has been found, leaning against the wall, which probably served as a basis for a bench or a shelf. On the other side of the room, in its south-western comer, there is a square platform, 60 cm high, built of stone. A reddish - brown stain of circular shape made by burning was visible in the central part of its upper surface. Considering the fact that remains of a domica' baking have been discovered right next to the refectov, .. this structure was ~robablvused I am very grateful to arch- O.Kanditj M. for the access to data related to archaeological explorations of SopCani in the period between 1976 and 1984 (headed by A JuriSiC, archaeologist), who offered me the sketches fiom her unpublished field documentation. 0. KandiC) as an open fireplace raised, for convenience sake, on a constructed platform. A column with a matching capital and base and several blocks of stone with typical saw-tooth joints which once made up two segmental arches were found in the center of this room6. Obviously, these arches once spanned this space, transversely in relation to the western and the southern wall of the room, while resting on the column with its matching capital in the center and on stone consoles built into the walls. The discovered stone blocks indicate that a vaulted construction with a chimney on top of it must have existed above the arches. The arches were secured with iron pins without which such a risky construction could not have survived (Fig. 4.). The entrance space of this room was paved with stone while the rest of the kitchen had an earthen floor. The kitchen lead to two other rooms used probably for storing food and kitchenware. Apart from the bakery, the kitchen and the storage room, a room serving as a mill was also identified within this complex. Several hand operated grinders of different sizes have been discovered in a Segmental arches with saw-tooth joints are an architectural detail of Islamic origin. They can be seen on several Islamic buildings in the environs of Novi Pazar as well as on the portals of smaii scale churches datina from the close of the XVI century (cf. P. C - r a H a n p u n o r npoyranaby rpapiTesbcKor u CnliKapcKor ~ a c n e t j aXVII BeKa Ha nonpyrjy u s ~ e t j yHOBO^ n m a ~ ali CjeHli~e, Ho~ona7apcm 360~mK HOBn n m a ~ 1977, 169-188; T o ~ o ~ o ~ 4uphm, a CB. E O ~ O P O R MY UKO~ saresy, Caonurreraa Xx-AW, &orpan 1989, 215-223). 239 Late Medieval Monastery Kitchens -Forms and Location Fig. 2. - Sopohni monastery of the baking oven - Reconstruction Fig. 3. - Sopohni monastery room with its own entrance located in the same row with the kitchen and the storage room. A fountain was located right in front of the kitchen, in the monastery courtyard, as attested by the preserved stone basin with a water drain canal. A part of a lead pipe supplying this fountain with water has been discovered in the southern wall of this room, at the spot where it meets the enclosing monastery wall. Beyond this enclosing wall, along the course of this pipeline, we have even come across an expansion vessel used for regulating the water flow. A row of stone bases which used to hold the wooden colums of a portico have been discovered in front of the western'edifice. A constructed bench with finely cut sandstone seats once stood on either side of the entrance to this building, one on the side of the fountain and another on the side of the refectory. A part of the portico pavement in front of this bench has also been preserved. The remains of - XVI century kitchen (photograph 0. KandiC) Marina MihaljeviC Fig. 4. - Sopohni monastery of the XVI century kitchen - Reconstruction a staircase construction raised along the refectory wall indicate that the kitchen had an upper storey which was most probably used for residential purposes of the monks. Although it dates from somewhat later times, from the XVI century, this kitchen offers the greatest number of clues for an attempt to reconstruct the appearance of later medieval kitchens. The disposition of fireplaces and distribution of substructure elements carrying overhanging constructions from the preserved kitchens of Pavlovac and Kastaljan, dating from the XV century, and even the later, XVI century, bakery from the monastery of Crna Reka, indicate that the features of the kitchen in SopoCani were direct copies of medieval models. Namely, the kitchen of Pavlovci monastery has a fireplace located by one of the walls of this room7. Two columns standing at the corners of this fireplace Fig. 5. - Pavlovac monastery of the XV century kitchen (after S. Popovik) - Reconstruction once carried a domical construction which ended in a chimney (Fig. 5.). The kitchen of Kastaljan monastery is very similar. It has a fireplace in one of its corners and it is also possible that the construction of the chimney rested on one column and several consoles in the walls, as in SopoCani (Fig. 6.)8. No traces of rooms specially designated for bread baking have been found in either monastery.. This could mean that in smaller monastic communities bread was baked in earthenware, in the fireplace. It is important to note that the preserved kitchens dating from the end of the ?3V and the XV century have vaulted spaces directly above their fireplaces' ovens but that, contrary to those of Greek and Athonite monasteries which had kitchens of square plans, covered by domes ending in chimneys, r.Mapja~o~Uh-Byjo~Uh, M ~ H ~ c T u ~ cKOMllneKC KU KacTnaH, Crapmap ;mY, R o r p a f i 1980, 85, says that parts of the chimney construction have not been found. For conclusions on the possible construction cf: C. I'Ionoawh, K p c r y xpyry, ~oj Eeorpapa~ Apxmemypa M m a m p a y c p e f l ~ o ~ e x o sCpGIijIi, 1994, 279, 281. Late Medieval Monastery Kitchens - Forms and Location Fig. 7.- Nova Pavlica monastery - Reconstruction of the baking oven - Kastiljan monastery - Reconstruction of the XV The common type of baking oven has a circular base covered with a calotte. At times, the firewood opening is located at ground level but more often they are not entirely vaulted themselves. Kitchens the entire calotte is raised from the ground on a of that type ( u a y e t p e ~ ~ madupnica) m, have appeared constructed platform which facilitates the act of inserting and taking out bread. Ovens such as these in Serbia only from the XVIII century on9. were heated to a maximum and then the embers were As far as fireplaces and ovens are concerned, scraped aside and loaves of bread to be baked placed it is possible to discern several different types, beginn- inside that same chamber. The domical shape of the ingwith the simple open fireplaces, through fireplaces oven secured a balanced distribution of heat in its raised on platforms to closed domical baking ovens inner chamber. The remains of such ovens discovered with or without constructed platforms. Very often in the monastery of the Holy Archangels date from open fireplaces have small niches for storing the the XIV centurylO. Both ovens found in this kitchen already prepared meals or cooking at lower temper- have a circular base covered with a calotte. One of atures. No auxiliary elements for kitchenware hand- them has a closed bottom section which actually makes it a raised baking oven. A similar oven dating ling have been preserved. from the XVI century is still in use in the monasterj of Crna Rekall. As in Sopobni, the area of the The best known examples of that type of kitchens are bakery is covered with a calotte resting on segmental those from monasteries of Crna Reka (cf. M. B ~ ~ o B MaHacTnp H$ arches with metal pins. The calotte extends into a 38 ffMKoBHep i e m o m CB.Apxa~benay u p ~ oPj e ~ n3, 6 0 p ~ m tall chimney channel. 4, Honn Can 1968,252,257, cn. 12), Treskavac (cfi P. Q ) n ~ f l p n ~ , However, in the monastery of Nova Pavlica Toe ce Hana3nna cTapa hraHacTnpcKa ~pne3apnjay IIe'lKoj I'Ia~pnjap~mijw, Caomreraa X Y I I m I I , &orpan 1990-1991, there are remains of a bakery in which the fireplace 144-145)and the Holy Trinity at Pljevlja. In the XVIII century a is separated from the ovenl2. The fireplace was COVpart of the refectory in the monastery of DeiSani was transformed Fig. 6. century kitchen (after S. PopoviC) into a kitchen (cf. C. Hewanostili, Tpnesapnja n p o ~ o ~ a j c ~ o p a 16opija y A e r a ~ m a CTapme , Kocosa M h f e ~ o x ~I,j eI'Ipnm~n10 C. HeHanosuli, AymaHosa s a , ~ y x 6 n ~hiaHaCTMp a ~ C n o n f e ~ ~Cxm , OAH 18, C s e ~ n xApxa~ijenaK O I'Ipnspe~a, Ha 1961, 294-295, 296-297, 299, 304). Judging by the preserved Lkorpan 1967, 18-19. drawings, the old dormitory in the Patriarchate of Pee also had l1 M Byno~nh,op. ciL, 256-257, cn. 7,c n 9. aK Y KOMnneKC)' a kitchen of this Sort (CC6. Bynosnh, C T ~ K~OHH 3rpaaa MaHacTnpa IIehKe I'Ia~pnjapwnjt; 3 6 0 p ~ m3 m m e l2 A. Jypnmnfi, Hona 1Tasn~uqpe3yffram apxeoffournix pmosq F e o r p a ~1991, 51. cnohiemxa xynrype I& Feorpan 1951, 119-124). Marina Mihaljevic Fig. 8.- Possible locations of the kitchenes Late Medieval Monastery Kitchens - Forms and Location ered with a segmental vault made of brick and had an opening lined with stone on its front. The oven also had the form of a calotte and the hot air coming from the fireplace was probably channelled into its inner chamber (Fig.7.). It is also possible that the calotte was very shallow in order to enable better heating. Although ovens of this type are not common in folk architecture, which has produced many traditional oven shapes in direct continuity until this day, one similar example is still used in the monastery of Chilandar. One of the mentioned two ovens from the kitchen of the Holy Archangels monastery did not have raised fireplace chamber and its firewood opening was located at floor level. Since placing bread inside such an oven was very difficult, it could be that this oven was used only for heating while the baking was actually done in an adjoining oven. The location of the kitchen within the monastery complex in Sopohni is typical for Serbian monasteries of the XI1 and XI11 century13. Some of the monasteries of a later date such as Nova Pavlica (XIV century) and Kastaljan (XV century) show a similar spatial organisation, with the kitchen located inside the same building as the refectory. However, during the XIV century a change takes place in the disposition of monastery kitchens. They are detached from the encircling walls of the monastery and raised as separate structures. It is possible that the new location of the refectories brought about the formation of economy zones or even courtyards which could house the monastery kitchen, as a separate edifice or within a complex of other rooms used for purposes of economy14. It is possible to discern the origins of such spaces in the monasteries of Banjska and Deliani, but the kitchens were probably traditionally positioned. In 243 the monastery of the Holy Archangels the detachment of the kitchen from spaces of other function is quite obvious. Here, the refectory is an entirely independent structure communicating through a door with an economy courtyard west of it. In the monastery of Ravanica the economy area is clearly a separate unit within the complex with an identified metal workshop behind the refectory but is not clear whether or not the kitchen was located within this block in the later phase. The door and the portico of the refectory in the monastery of Manasija indicate that the space designated for preparing food must have had a somewhat more withdrawn location within this complex15. A similar organisation of space, regardless of existing differences in the urbanism of the settlement, was present also in the XV century monastery of St. Nicholas in Pavlovci. The kitchen, together with an auxiliary space, is placed within a separate building, located far from the sacral structures of the monastery (Fig. 8). If we were to recapitulate the available data, we could conclude that a developed monastery kitchen very often included special rooms designated for preparing food and bread baking and that its fittings did not change much throughout the Middle Ages. As far as the location of a kitchen within a late medieval monastery is concerned, there are indications that special economy zones were organised as individual spatial units within monastery complexes. It is certainly tied to a stronger influx of the Byzantine custom of granting great importance to refectories as independent structures in monastic settlements. Translated by Jelena ERDEWAN UDC 726.7:72.05(497.11) 13 On the spatial organization of Serbian monasteries cf. C. Mojcnnosuh, ~ ~ O C T OCTpyrtTJ' ~ H ~pa MaHaCTMpa CpenEoseKoBHe CpBnje, C a o n u r ~ e mXIII, R o r p a n 1981, 7-45 and C. l4 C. IIonoenh, K p m y Kpyry, Apxmemypa MaHampa y c p e f l & o ~ e ~ o a C ~ opj 6 ~ jR~o,r p a n 1994, 33-34, 37, ela- borates the location of economy zones within monastery complexes. In this paper, the separation of an economy zone refers to its clear detachment from residential area and places of worship within a monastery. n. l5 Tofioposnh, TpnesapLija MaHacTupa Pecase, MacpncKora flyxonH a m p P e c a q H m o p ~ j aH ynrerrrocn; HOT npeo6paiirem I4 n e c n o ~ o n a u1995, 175-176.