Refectory

The Refectory is one of the buildings reached from the Cloister within a Math, fronting the roofed gallery around the central garden.

First Appearance and Context

The Refectory is identified as a named building opening onto the Cloister’s covered walkway alongside other long‑standing structures. Its placement shows it as part of everyday circulation within the central precinct of the math.

Roles/Actions and Affiliations

The Refectory serves as the community’s dining hall and working kitchen for Avout. It is used for large‑scale meal preparation—vegetable chopping and stew‑making are described—and can feed hundreds at a time. During one kitchen shift, the narrator worked at the chopping board while speaking with Fraa Orolo, and several fids gathered to watch the exchange. The kitchen faces a small herb garden, and a deep overhanging eave keeps direct sun out of the windows. In the shade beneath that eave, avout such as Suur Tulia and Suur Ala have cut old tires into sandals. Diners carry their bowls into the adjoining kitchen after meals and clean them before returning to other duties. As a communal hall, conversations occur within earshot of others, and some avout avoid sensitive topics here.

Serving duties rotate among orders; on one evening it was the Reformed Old Faanians who served supper. The Order of the New Circle has also used the hall for a formal toast, opening an old firkin of wine to honor a fraa newly freed from penance.

Relationships

• Opens directly from the Cloister and lies among other principal buildings tied into daily traffic.
• Adjoins a small herb garden associated with the kitchen work area.

Descriptions/Characteristics

• A long hall with shared tables for communal meals and an adjoining kitchen.
• Kitchen windows shaded by a deep projecting eave; work often spills into the shaded area by the herb beds.
• The hall’s acoustics and climate favor the aging of oak casks; casks stored along its walls respond to the resonance of many voices. Less‑equipped concents sometimes send casks here to age, and both the Refectory and the Mynster are considered comfortable environments for them.

Current Status/Location

Active and in daily use, providing meals and serving as a locus of conversation and work for the resident community. During Apert, visiting family and acquaintances share supper with residents here.