`:top

A `!refectory`! (also `!frater`!, `!frater house`!, `!fratery`!) is a `F33f`_`[dining room`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Dining_room]`_`f, especially in `F33f`_`[monasteries`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Monastery]`_`f, `F33f`_`[boarding schools`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Boarding_school]`_`f and academic institutions. One of the places the term is most often used today is in graduate `F33f`_`[seminaries`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Seminary]`_`f. The name derives from the Latin `*reficere`* "to remake or restore," via `F33f`_`[Late Latin`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Late_Latin]`_`f `*refectorium`*, which means "a place one goes to be restored" (`*cf.`* "restaurant").

>>Contents

• `F0af`_`[Refectories and monastic culture`#refectories-and-monastic-culture]`_`f

• `F0af`_`[Size, structure, and placement`#size-structure-and-placement]`_`f

• `F0af`_`[Eastern Orthodox`#eastern-orthodox]`_`f

• `F0af`_`[Modern usage`#modern-usage]`_`f

• `F0af`_`[See also`#see-also]`_`f

• `F0af`_`[References`#references]`_`f

• `F0af`_`[Sources`#sources]`_`f

• `F0af`_`[External links`#external-links]`_`f

-─

>>Refectories and monastic culture

`F33f`_`[Communal meals`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Communal_meal]`_`f are the times when all monks of an institution are together. Diet and eating habits differ somewhat by `F33f`_`[monastic order`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Monasticism]`_`f, and more widely by schedule. The `F33f`_`[Benedictine`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Benedictine]`_`f rule is illustrative.

The `F33f`_`[Rule of St Benedict`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Rule_of_St_Benedict]`_`f orders two meals. `F33f`_`[Dinner`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Dinner]`_`f is provided year-round; `F33f`_`[supper`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Supper]`_`f is also served from late spring to early fall, except for Wednesdays and Fridays. The diet originally consisted of simple fare: two dishes, with fruit as a third course if available. The food was simple, with the meat of mammals forbidden to all but the sick. Moderation in all aspects of diet is the spirit of Benedict's law. Meals are eaten in silence, facilitated sometimes by hand signals. A single monk might read aloud from the Scriptures or writings of the `F33f`_`[saints`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Saint]`_`f during the meals.

>>Size, structure, and placement

Refectories vary in size and dimension, based primarily on wealth and size of the monastery, as well as when the room was built. They share certain design features. Monks eat at long benches; important officials sit at raised benches at one end of the hall. A `F33f`_`[lavabo`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Lavabo]`_`f, or large basin for hand-washing, usually stands outside the refectory.

Tradition also fixes other factors. In England, the refectory is generally built on an `F33f`_`[undercroft`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Undercroft]`_`f (perhaps in an allusion to the upper room where the `F33f`_`[Last Supper`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Last_Supper]`_`f reportedly took place) on the side of the `F33f`_`[cloister`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Cloister]`_`f opposite the church. Benedictine models are traditionally generally laid out on an east–west axis, while `F33f`_`[Cistercian`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Cistercian]`_`f models lie north–south.

`F33f`_`[Norman`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Norman_architecture]`_`f refectories could be as large as 160 feet (49 m) long by 35 feet (11 m) wide (such as the abbey at `F33f`_`[Norwich`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Norwich]`_`f). Even relatively early refectories might have windows, but these became larger and more elaborate in the high medieval period. The refectory at `F33f`_`[Cluny Abbey`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Cluny_Abbey]`_`f was lit through thirty-six large glazed windows. The twelfth-century abbey at `F33f`_`[Mont Saint-Michel`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Mont_Saint-Michel]`_`f had six windows, five feet wide by twenty feet high.

>>Eastern Orthodox

In `F33f`_`[Eastern Orthodox`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Eastern_Orthodox_Church]`_`f monasteries, the trapeza (`F33f`_`[Greek`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Greek_language]`_`f: τραπεζαρία, `*refectory`*) is considered a sacred place, and in some cases is even constructed as a full church with an `F33f`_`[altar`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Altar]`_`f and `F33f`_`[iconostasis`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Iconostasis]`_`f. Some services are intended to be performed specifically in the trapeza. There is always at least one `F33f`_`[icon`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Icon]`_`f with a `*`F33f`_`[lampada`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Lampada]`_`f`* (oil lamp) kept burning in front of it. The service of the `F33f`_`[Lifting of the Panagia`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Prosphora]`_`f is performed at the end of meals. During `F33f`_`[Bright Week`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Bright_Week]`_`f, this service is replaced with the `F33f`_`[Lifting of the Artos`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Artos]`_`f. In some monasteries, the `F33f`_`[Ceremony of Forgiveness`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Clean_Monday]`_`f at the beginning of `F33f`_`[Great Lent`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Great_Lent]`_`f is performed in the trapeza. All food served in the trapeza should be blessed, and for that purpose, `F33f`_`[holy water`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Holy_water]`_`f is often kept in the kitchen.

>>Modern usage

As well as continued use of the historic monastic meaning, the word `*refectory`* is often used in a modern context to refer to a `F33f`_`[café`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Café]`_`f or `F33f`_`[cafeteria`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Cafeteria]`_`f that is open to the public—including non-worshipers such as `F33f`_`[tourists`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Tourist]`_`f—attached to a `F33f`_`[cathedral`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Cathedral]`_`f or `F33f`_`[abbey`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Abbey]`_`f. This usage is particularly prevalent in `F33f`_`[Church of England`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Church_of_England]`_`f buildings, which use the takings to supplement their income.`:cite-ref-1[`F5bf`_`[1`#cite-note-1]`_`f]

Many `F33f`_`[universities`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Universities]`_`f in the UK also call their student cafeteria or dining facilities the refectory. The term is rare at American colleges, although `F33f`_`[Brown University`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Brown_University]`_`f calls its main dining hall the Sharpe Refectory,`:cite-ref-2[`F5bf`_`[2`#cite-note-2]`_`f] the main dining hall at `F33f`_`[Rhodes College`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Rhodes_College]`_`f is known as the Catherine Burrow Refectory,`:cite-ref-3[`F5bf`_`[3`#cite-note-3]`_`f] and, in August of 2019, `F33f`_`[Villanova University`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Villanova_University]`_`f chose the name 'The Refectory' for the "sophisticated-yet-casual restaurant service" (open to students and the public) to purposefully acknowledge and recognize the history of the refectory name to connote "a dining room for communal meals at academic institutions and monasteries".`:cite-ref-4[`F5bf`_`[4`#cite-note-4]`_`f]`:cite-ref-5[`F5bf`_`[5`#cite-note-5]`_`f]

>>See also

• `F33f`_`[Refectory table`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Refectory_table]`_`f

>>References

`:cite-note-1`!1.`! `F0af`_`[↑`#cite-ref-1]`_`f "The Refectory Restaurant and Coffee Shop". Archived from the original on February 4, 2009. Retrieved February 16, 2009.

`:cite-note-2`!2.`! `F0af`_`[↑`#cite-ref-2]`_`f "Sharpe Refectory,(the Ratty)". `*Brown Dining Services`*. Retrieved 10 March 2015.

`:cite-note-3`!3.`! `F0af`_`[↑`#cite-ref-3]`_`f "Catherine Burrow Refectory". `*Dining at Rhodes`*. Retrieved 26 April 2017.

`:cite-note-4`!4.`! `F0af`_`[↑`#cite-ref-4]`_`f Press release 2019-0114; Villanova University; access date October 1, 2021

`:cite-note-5`!5.`! `F0af`_`[↑`#cite-ref-5]`_`f Villanova University’s Full-Service, On-Campus Restaurant, The Refectory, to Reopen in October Under New Operating Group; access date October 1, 2021

>>Sources

• Adams, Henry, `*Mont Saint-Michel and Chartres`*. New York: Penguin, 1986.

• Fernie, E. C. `*The Architecture of Norman England`*. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.

• Harvey, Barbara. `*Living and Dying in England, 1100-1450`*. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995.

• Singman, Jeffrey. `*Daily Life in Medieval Europe`*. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1999.

• Webb, Geoffrey. `*Architecture in Britain: the Middle Ages`*. Baltimore: Penguin, 1956.

>>External links

• Refectory in Russian Orthodox Convent, Jerusalem

Wikisource

has the text of the

1911

Encyclopædia Britannica

article "

Refectory

".

Look up

Refectory

in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

`c`F0af`_`[↑ Back to top`#top]`_`f`a