Medieval Europe — in NYC?

We took a drive up the NJ Turnpike Saturday and wound up in medieval Europe.  Really.

For those of you who don’t have the time, opportunity or Euros to visit the medieval  villages of Europe you can get a real feel for it on the cheap (suggested entrance fee is $25) right here in NYC.  The Cloisters, part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art family, has some of the best-kept artifacts of that part of European history.  The museum is dedicated to the “art, architecture and gardens of medieval Europe” and sits in Fort Tryon Park, along the Hudson River.  Many of the pieces of art were donated by the Rockefeller family.

The building, itself, is a marvel.  It’s not fashioned after any specific structure but is a combination of parts of many.  For instance, the apse of the church of San Martin in Fuentiduena, Spain was incorporated into the museum in 1958.  In the gardens grow plants that grew during the medieval period and that were used for cooking and medicinal purposes.

Here are some of the pieces on display as well as a taste of the gardens.

Some of the works are extraordinary.  There is a room dedicated to the Unicorn Tapestries, a series of seven wall-hangings depicting the hunting and killing of the mythical horned horse.

We arrived just after it opened and we had it virtually to ourselves for a short time.  I suggest that you do the same — unless you really like crowds.  Even for a cold day — the temperature was around 30 degrees — the place filled up.