Some RL inspiration for a possible alpine monastery

Diderot Mirabeau · Post by **Diderot Mirabeau** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 5:14 am

I'm sure that you people are already far more knowledgeable about the issue than me but I just surfed around a bit for inspiration to imagine what an alpine monastery might look like and I found a few references that I thought might interest some of you too. The first one seems especially noteworthy, considering that it seems to be the source of the Saint Bernard dogs, which with their kegs would fit in well as an extension of the already famous NFS beer culture:

[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_St._ ... s:3glpy8mm]Hospice du Grand-Saint-Bernard, Switzerland[/url:3glpy8mm]

[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grande_Chartreuse:3glpy8mm]Le monastÃ¨re de la Grande Chartreuse, Grenoble, France[/url:3glpy8mm]

[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacra_di_S ... e:3glpy8mm]Sacra di San Michele, Mont Pirchiriano, Piemonte Region, Italy[/url:3glpy8mm]

[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millstatt:3glpy8mm]Millstat Monastery, Spittal an der Drau, Austria[/url:3glpy8mm]

And a few, which are not in the alps, but which seemed impressive enough to merit inclusion:

[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subiaco%2C_Italy:3glpy8mm]The Monastery of San Benedetto, Subiaco, Italy[/url:3glpy8mm]

[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%BCmel ... y:3glpy8mm]SÃ¼mela Monastery, Altındere valley, Trabzon Province, Turkey[/url:3glpy8mm]

There are many more beautiful monasteries situated on mountainsides across the world. Not the least in Japan, the Himalayas and around India, but I am of the impression that we want this building to stay within an architectural theme fitting for an alpine region.

Arria Perreault · Post by **Arria Perreault** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 3:49 am

I will try to make a plan for the monastery. I have in my mind a real example of the XII century. This monastery is beautiful (church + abbaye), but not too big. I can easely access it and take all the pictures material to work on the textures.

[img:2ddfuiwb]http://www.be-virtual.ch/blog/images/ABBAYE.JPG[/img:2ddfuiwb]

This picture give you an idea. It is taken in the inner court which is beautiful and full of harmony. If I have the measures of the room available for it, I can propose a plan. I can also start to work on the textures.

I'll try to make more pictures this week and (with a better light) and publish them.

Claude Desmoulins · Post by **Claude Desmoulins** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 5:30 am

For whatever reason, when I heard about the monastery and saw the first terrain map, the image that sprang to mind was the entirely imaginary Italian monastery that Umberto Eco created as the setting for [i:1ba08f7v]The Name of the Rose[/i:1ba08f7v] and no I didn't see the movie. I can't find if there is a particular monastery Eco used as inspiration for his fictional one.

Sudane Erato · Post by **Sudane Erato** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 5:42 am

[quote="Claude Desmoulins":1845f5o4]For whatever reason, when I heard about the monastery and saw the first terrain map, the image that sprang to mind was the entirely imaginary Italian monastery that Umberto Eco created as the setting for [i:1845f5o4]The Name of the Rose[/i:1845f5o4] and no I didn't see the movie. I can't find if there is a particular monastery Eco used as inspiration for his fictional one.[/quote:1845f5o4]
Of course, we couldn't use that model unless we were willing to have it contain a charred, burnt out library....

Sudane.......

Jon Seattle · Post by **Jon Seattle** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 5:45 am

I can't help but wonder if that was a subconscious inspiration for me too. I loved that novel and the move.

Shall we add a labyrinthine library tower on with an hexagonal plan? I am only partly joking. The image of the library and the questions Eco raised about the nature of knowledge and history are really important ones. I would love to see some little part of the CDS architecture that addressed those.

(Oh, I see I cross posted with Sudane) We could always resurrect the library and open it to everyone. Let those pre-Christian and early Christian treasures see the light of day..

Beathan · Post by **Beathan** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 10:11 am

Claude --

I happen to be rereading [i:3mekuihf] The Name of the Rose [/i:3mekuihf] right now. I was inspired to reread it because I read a paper by Eco called "How I Write." While Eco often uses real places for his settings -- and is insanely accurate about them -- the monastery in [i:3mekuihf] The Name of the Rose[/i:3mekuihf] is fictional. However, Eco did map out with great detail all the features of the monastery during the year before he started writing so that he could have the same confidence and level of detail that he has when writing about real places.

Interestingly, he did the same for the ship in [i:3mekuihf] Island of the Day Before [/i:3mekuihf] -- but he did not give the readers a map or floorplan because he wanted the reader to be as uneasy and confused as the protagonist.

And here I show myself to be (not unexpectedly, I suppose), an Eco fanatic. LOL

Beathan

P.S. I was not quite accurate. Apparently there were several RL inspirations for the Abbey in [i:3mekuihf] The Name of the Rose.[/i:3mekuihf]

[quote:3mekuihf][W]hen I wrote [i:3mekuihf]The Name of the Rose[/i:3mekuihf], I spent a full year, if I remember correctly, without writing a line (and for [i:3mekuihf]Foucault's Pendulum[/i:3mekuihf] I spent at least two, and the same for [i:3mekuihf]Island of the Day Before[/i:3mekuihf]). Instead I read, did drawings and diagrams, invented a world. This world had to be as precise as possible, so that I could move around in it with total confidence. For [i:3mekuihf]The Name of the Rose[/i:3mekuihf] I drew hundreds of labyrinths and plans of abbeys, basing mine on other drawings and on places I visited, because I needed everything to work well, I needed to know how long it would take two characters in conversation to go from one place to another. And this also dicated the length of the dialogues.[/quote:3mekuihf]

Eco, Umberto; "How I Write."

Bromo Ivory · Post by **Bromo Ivory** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 11:57 am

[quote="Beathan":1dg9b1v8]
And here I show myself to be (not unexpectedly, I suppose), an Eco fanatic. LOL
[/quote:1dg9b1v8]

ANOTHER Umberto Eco fanatic! Hooray!

[u:1dg9b1v8]Foucault's Pendulum[/u:1dg9b1v8] ... next favorite after NOTR

Nikki · Post by **Nikki** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 2:51 pm

The Name of the Rose is not familiar to me, but I have found a website that describes the RL resources pictured in the film: http://kspark.kaist.ac.kr/NameRose/rose.htm
It is interesting.

Personally, I like Arria's idea. In addition to this being a beautiful place she is volunteering to work on it and provide realistic textures, which I think sounds great! Thank you Arria!!!