French Cloisters, Paradise Island, 14th-century Augustinian monastery in Paradise Island, Bahamas
The French Cloisters on Paradise Island is a structure with stone archways and carved details that reflect medieval French architectural styles. The building sits within Versailles Gardens and presents traditional monastic forms in a landscaped garden setting.
The original monastery dates from the 14th century in France and was taken apart in the 1920s by William Randolph Hearst. It was later reassembled on Paradise Island in the 1960s by another collector.
The cloisters show how European religious spaces can exist in a tropical setting, blending medieval French craftsmanship with Caribbean nature in an unexpected way.
The site is accessible through guided tours where visitors can explore the architectural details up close. The surrounding gardens provide pathways to view and photograph the structure from various angles.
The complex was moved entirely from its original French location and pieced back together stone by stone on the island. This makes it the only authentic medieval European monastery in the Caribbean.
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