Grand Refectory
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Transcript
The Grand Refectory is one of the complex’s most impressive rooms, but its size was functional as well as theatrical. The palm-vaulted hall could accommodate large gatherings and important guests. In a state whose leadership depended on networks of nobles and visiting crusaders from across Europe, hospitality was politics.
A meal could demonstrate wealth, hierarchy and organisational competence without a speech. The room’s later history adds another layer: under Prussian rule it was altered for military use before restorers turned it back toward a medieval appearance. So even the room that feels most “authentic” has passed through cycles of use, damage and interpretation.