Gardens and Religion

Religion plays a huge role in roman, mediaeval, and muslim gardens. All of these gardens are enclosed, private places to worship or self-reflect. They are looked at as a “paradise” for the people. 
Roman gardens were very sophisticated. They were used for religious expression and worship. The roman peristyle garden is private and enclosed. The architecture was often very intricate and had a roof. Roman gardens were very spirit oriented and were often said to be luxurious. They often had statuary that represented gods and goddesses. Venus represented the goddess of gardens and Priapus represented the god of fertility in the gardens.

House of the vettii, Pompeii, example of a peristyle

During the mediaeval time, religion was the unifying force (control, wealth, and power). Church was fundamental of everyones life and they were psychologically and financially controlled by the church. The mediaeval culture based their lives off of feudalism and the pyramid of power, in which the pope/church was at the top of the pyramid. Mediaeval monastery/monks were the gardeners during this time. They were very self sufficient and they dedicated their lives to god and prayer. The monks spread their religion and horticulture by creating the cloister. The cloister garden was a formal square of grass that had a bit of ornament. People would sit, meditate, and write reflections of their lives in these gardens. All of the herbs and plants in these gardens were planted for a purpose. 

Example of a cloister 

Islamic gardens follow the Qur’an. They are diverse, beautiful gardens that are used for personal reflection. The Qur’an has over 120 references to the phrase “jannat al firdaws” or “gardens of paradise”. So right from the start you can tell the Islamic gardens will be an earthly, divine paradise. The chahar bagh is a fourfold garden of flower beds. It is a place for muslims to self-reflect on their relationship with god and meditate. The four beds of the chahar bagh represent the four rivers of life, like the cloister in mediaeval culture.

Example of a chahar bagh

According to an online article, religion is one of the main reasons for making enclosed and sacred places; much like where the peristyle, cloister, and chahar bagh gardens are found. It is also found that these religious spaces and gardens were created long before some religious buildings were created. This makes all of these gardens very important and sacred to the roman, medieval, and muslim cultures. 

To read more, visit the link below.

Sources:

http://www.gardenvisit.com/history_theory/garden_landscape_design_articles/sacred_gardens WEBhttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/Pompeii_atrium_reconstruction,_House_of_the_Vettii,_Boboli_Gardens,_Florence,_Italy_-_20100908.jpg PICTURE
http://atasteoftravelblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/The-Cloisters-New-York-13.jpg PICTURE
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7185/6972039417_1bd4ba1630_b.jpg PICTURE