Vaulted Cellar (St. Gallen)

The Vaulted Cellar is one of the spaces of the Abbey District of St. Gallen, the historic centre of the city and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It lies in the Klosterhof, the great courtyard enclosed by the former abbey buildings, and forms part of the complex that includes the Cathedral of St. Gall and the Abbey Library, which together make up the best-known group of monuments in the city. Like many monastic buildings, it is a place where the working life of the community, not only its prayers, was carried on, and the cellar belongs to that practical side of abbey history.

A monastic cellar was the storeroom of the abbey. In the Middle Ages and later, wine, grain, preserved food and other supplies were kept in cool, dry vaults beneath the main buildings, and the cellarer, one of the abbey’s senior officers, managed the supplies on which the whole community depended. A vaulted cellar of this kind has thick stone walls, low arches and a steady temperature, making it ideal for storing wine, and the vaults give the space a quiet, solid atmosphere that contrasts with the ornate halls above. In St. Gallen the cellar is now used as an exhibition space, which means visitors can walk in the rooms that once held the monastery’s stores and see displays in the same setting.

The cellar adds a more tangible, everyday dimension to a visit to the Abbey District. The great Baroque library hall and the cathedral show the abbey’s learning and devotion, while the cellar shows how the Abbey’s community fed itself, drawing on the produce of its large estates in the region. Together they give a rounded picture of an institution that was a religious house, a school, a landowner and a political power for a thousand years. The exhibitions held in the cellar change from time to time, so what you see depends on the current programme.

Practical matters are best checked on the official website. Opening times, ticket arrangements, combined tickets for the abbey spaces and tours change by season and from year to year, and some arrangements apply to groups or require advance booking. The spaces are designed to be accessible, with a wheelchair available on request. A visit to the cellar fits naturally into a longer walk through the Abbey District, together with the library and the cathedral, and the nearby Gallusplatz and the old town lanes make a good continuation.

It suits history lovers, those with an interest in monastic life and visitors who like architecture. The cellar is small, so allow around half an hour, and combine it with the rest of the Abbey District.