Next to the church of Saint Niccolò stands the Carmelite priory which, until 2000, housed the community of friars. There are two buildings: a smaller one, whose entrance is on Via della Diana and that is currently a private hotel, and a second, much larger cloister, now home to the Faculty of Mathematical Studies of Siena’s University, therefore accessible to the public during opening hours through the large entrance on the right of the church.
The main priory was built at the behest of General Giovanni Battista Faleri Caffardi in 1590, when the increasing number of friars in the community required a larger construction. The school of Sienese architect Baldassare Peruzzi is accountable for the architectural style
Following the Order’s particular architectural standards, the common areas, partly open to the outside world and located on the ground floor, were intentionally separated from the more intimate areas which were placed on the upper floors and accessible only to friars.
The large central cloister gave access to the refectory, where meals were eaten during the day, to the kitchen, to the recreation room, to the lavatorium and vestry.
The walls framing the quadriporticus were entirely decorated with frescoes by Giuseppe Nicola Nasini around 1710. This cycle of murals outlines the history of the Carmelite Order through its most important events.
The first floor housed the domestic areas: the infirmary and the pharmacy for the care of sick friars, the library, the hermitage for solitary prayer and the oratory for the collective one. This is also where the friars’ cells are located which, in order to favour isolation, do not overlook the cloister.
The cells evoke the grotto where Prophet Elijah lived, so as to favour the meditation of the Carmelite friars and their encounter with God: they had to be bare, cubical, whitewashed, with a narrow entrance in the name of purity, of simplicity and necessity of solitude. A great amount of the friars’ lives is spent here in the cell, a place dedicated not only to rest and study, but also to personal prayer.
At the back the friars could also avail themselves of large gardens, in which they could spend time in meditation and spiritual quest, and of vegetable gardens, where they worked for the sustenance of the community.
Lastly, the second and third floors housed the novices’ cells, other service areas and a large covered loggia overlooking Siena’s landscape. The contact with nature was always very important for the Carmelites, in memory of the solitary life led by the first communities on Mount Carmel.