The Cloisters Museum NYC - Travel Back Into the Medieval Era

Today we are visiting the Cloisters Museum in New York City. This is located further afield in Manhattan's Inwood neighborhood. To get here, you can take the A-Train to the last stop at Dyckman Street, or you can drive as there is a small parking lot. The museum overlooks the Hudson River, so you also have absolutely amazing views. It is one of the best collections of medieval art and architecture in the world. Hello, hello everyone. So where we are today is the Cloisters Museum. Now this is located in very far uptown Manhattan. You're basically in the Bronx. So if you want to get here, I suggest you drive. There's a small parking lot. There's usually spots. It's a small museum, but what's cool about it is if you enjoy medieval art and architecture, this is the place for you to go. So it has a bunch of tapestries, paintings, furniture. It really allows you to take a step back in time. And interestingly, a lot of the pieces in here are donated from rich people. So a lot of the world's best artifacts are in very rich people's living rooms. You see those auctions where people spend millions of dollars on ancient and medieval things. Is that right? So a lot of the stuff in here is actually donated from really big names like the Rockefellers and the Carnegies. So the museum was built in the 1930s, and it's modeled off an actual medieval castle. So when you're in here, you'll see a really well-preserved cloister, and you'll see the old medieval arches. So we're going to head in now, but take a look at the outside of it here. So they model it off of a real castle. Okay, we're going to head in. So what a cloister is, is it's a central garden in the middle of a monastery. So in the springtime if you come, we're here in the winter, but in the springtime if you come, there's a bunch of gardens and roses, and it's really nice, and it's right through here. So it's actually closed now with glass, but in the summertime and the springtime, you can walk out here and there's beautiful gardens. and it has this really vaulted, thick ceiling. So take a look here. So now what's so cool about the Cloisters Museum, is that you feel like you're in a medieval castle right here in New York. Now the museum is a little further afield. It's not in the main Manhattan. It's far, far uptown in the Inwood neighborhood, as you saw on the map in the beginning. So if you want to get here, I would drive, or you could take the A train to Dyckman Street, and then you have to walk up. You kind of got to hike up a little bit of a hill. It's pretty cool to see, though. But I definitely recommend coming here. It's not that ADA accessible. So if you have a wheelchair or a stroller, it may be a bit difficult. But it definitely is really something cool to see. I'm not going to explain all the art pieces, as you notice I haven't so far, because we're in a museum. It's very quiet. I don't want to disrupt people talking. But instead, I'm just going to kind of show you what everything is and how it looks in here. And then when you come and visit the museum, you can get an audio guide, or you can just read it. But there are really cool works of art here. Tapestry, stained glass windows. I mean, it's the closest you're going to get to Europe in America, and it's right here in New York. So I definitely recommend taking a look at the Matt Cloyster's Museum, guys. You will notice when you're here that most of the art pieces are devoted to Christianity. And the reason for that is because in medieval times, people devoted so much of their life to their religion, and since it's European-based, that's pretty much what everybody was. You know, they lived, breathed, thought about their religion all the time. People went to mass every day, usually. So the themes that you're going to see in the art pieces here is mostly religious in nature, right? It's almost entirely devoted to Christianity. So you'll notice that when you're here. Now, where we are now is we are in the outside area. So you get actually amazing views. Let me show you over here. Amazing views of the Hudson River. Take a look. So here we are on the New York side. We're in Manhattan. And then over there across the river, that's New Jersey. That's the Hudson River. So it's really cool to see. You come out here. I mean, we're here in the wintertime, like I said, but you come here in the summer, especially the spring, and all of these gardens are blooming. It's really cool to see. Figurines and a lot of religious art. So this is definitely a cool thing to see. This is in the basement of the Met Cloisters. So take a look at that when you're here. So there you have it, guys. That is the Met Cloisters Museum. That is seeing a medieval castle right here in New York City. Like I said, it is an amazing place to go on, like, a winter day. It's a small museum. You could probably finish it unless you're really looking at everything. You could probably finish it in an hour to two hours unless you're really getting intricate on every piece. If you like this kind of content, I do lots of tours all over New York City. Like, share, subscribe, and let me know your tips and tricks in navigating the Cloisters Museum. Okay, guys, until next time, take care.