The Met Cloisters in New York

The Met Cloisters in New York

The Met Cloisters in New York is a museum constructed in the style of a medieval European monastery. Situated in the northernmost tip of Manhattan and surrounded by beautiful gardens. Furthermore, the museum is part of the renowned Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan. The building alone is worth a visit. Already visited the main New York attractions? Or, are you a big fan of museums? You should certainly consider paying a visit to The Met Cloisters.

Buy The Met tickets including same-day admission to The Met Cloisters

Contents

The Cloisters Collection

The museum focuses on European medieval art and architecture. The collection comprises of around 5,000 artworks. You can view sculptures, stained glass, tapestries and much more, mostly dating from the twelfth to the fifteenth century. The collection belonged to John D. Rockefeller Jr, who also bought the land on which the museum was later built. The museum isn’t very big, even if you take your time to view everything, you’ll need around an hour and a half.

Eric’s Tip: One of the highlights of this museum is the surrounding gardens, which are full of trees, like the park in which the museum is located. It’s a good idea to plan your visit when the trees are green. The museum cafe will also be open then (April through October).

The Met Cloisters in New York - Medieval Art The Met Cloisters in New York - Tapestry

Medieval Cloister

The building that houses this division of The Met is very impressive. If you didn’t know better you’d think it had been there for centuries. In fact, the cloister wasn’t built as such but was composed of parts of several European monasteries. The building was constructed in the 1930s and was immediately converted into a museum. It’s surrounded by reconstructed medieval gardens.

The Met Cloisters in New York - Garden The Met Cloisters in New York - Architecture

Eric’s Tip: It’s not possible to buy separate tickets for this museum as the entrance is included in the tickets to The Met. Because the travel time to The Met Cloisters is rather long, it’s difficult to visit both museums (fully) in one day.

Practical  Information

  • Opening hours:
    • The museum is open from Thursday to Tuesday
    • Closed on Wednesdays
    • Closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day
  • Location: 99 Margaret Corbin Drive, Fort Tryon Park
  • Getting there: The Met Cloisters is in Fort Tryon Park, around 30 minutes away by metro from Midtown Manhattan. The A train takes you directly from Times Square to the museum.

Buy The Met tickets including same-day admission to The Met Cloisters

Was this article helpful? Recommend it by giving me a rating:

By continuing to use the site, you agree to the use of cookies and the Privacy Policy. Find out more here.