Take A Tour of 8 Magnificent Monasteries

On the island of Patmos, Greece, stands the formidable walls of the Monastery of St. John the Theologian. It was built in 1088 by the soldier-monk John Christodoulos, with fortifications to protect the monks from the raids of pirates and Turks. Today, it's a World Heritage Site.

The interior is a lavish display of Greek Orthodox piety. The walls are covered with murals depicting the saints, the furniture is gold, and the smell of smoke and sweet incense hangs in the air. Today, the monastery is home to a museum and a handful of practising monks.

There have been religious buildings on this site in central Parma since the 10th Century. This here is the Complesso di San Giovanni Evangelista, completed in the early 1500s after the previous church burned down, and later embellished with baroque decoration.

The monastery was home to a chapter of Benedictine monks, who would have walked through this cloister to reach the refectory. Their lives would also have been occupied by copying and decorating manuscripts, as well as teaching and preaching to the people of the city.

Portugal is known for its many monasteries, but this is one of its most significant. Alcobaça Monastery was founded in 1153 by Afonso Henriques, the first king of Portugal, following his victory of the Moors of Santarém. It was also the first Gothic building in the country.

The Cistercian monks who lived here enjoyed a close relationship with the royal family. They created illuminated manuscripts and wrote an early history of Portugal. Over centuries, they amassed the largest library in the country.

The Monastery of Batalha was built to commemorate the victory of the Portuguese over the Castilians at the battle of Aljubarrota in 1385. It is one of the best examples of 'Late Flamboyant' Gothic architecture in Portugal, as you can see in the intricate stonework shown here.

This is the tomb of King João I and his wife, Philippa of Lancaster. They are depicted in life size, lying in rest, and holding hands - symbolising the bond between England and Portugal that their marriage cemented. They are surrounded all around by high vaults and wide windows.

The enormous complex of Jerónimos Monastery was built with one purpose in mind; to serve as the final resting place of the Portuguese royal family. King Manuel I ordered its construction in 1495 and selected the religious order of Hieronymite monks to occupy the monastery.

The monks' main role was the pray for the eternal soul of the King, and the royal family members buried here. For over four centuries they did so, until 1833, when the religious orders were dissolved and the monastery was abandoned. Today, it houses a number of museums.

Just off the coast of north east England is an island battered by the storms of the frigid north sea; Holy Island. A monastery was founded here by St Aidan in 634, and some of the earliest Christians in England lived here on Holy Island; Cuthbert, Eadberht, and Eadfrith.

For centuries, the island and its small monastery was the target of Viking and pirate raids, but monastic life persisted and Holy Island became one of the most important sites of Christianity in England. These 12-century ruins are proof of how important this tiny rock once was.

The Manasija Monastery, also known as Resava, was built in the picturesque countryside near Despotovac. Its founder, Stefan Lazarević, built the fortified monastery and church as his mausoleum, and dedicated these to the Holy Trinity.

The monastery was regarded as one of the grandest buildings in the whole of Serbia - the refectory, the monk's eating quarters, was covered from floor to ceiling in frescoes. Centuries of conflict and abandonment have led to the loss of these artworks, but the buildings remains.

This is the most important site in the Russian Orthodox church, the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius. Monks have lived and worked here since it was founded in 1337 by Sergius. In the centuries since, many churches, tombs, and palaces have been built on its land.

In-keeping with the Orthodox style, the interiors are lavishly decorated with icons of the saints. It may not come as a surprise that, prior to the Russian Revolution, St Sergius Lavra was the wealthiest monastery in all of Russia, and it remains a wealthy institution today.