Inside the cloister, which is the extension of the divine Word, the entire universe of human knowledge seems to be concentrated, glorified by the mystery of salvation, whose presence has been embraced by the sculptures and architecture for centuries. The Cloister Garden, according to tradition, is divided into four gardens where, in the centre, four symbolic trees are planted: the fig, the pomegranate, the olive and the palm.
The first two plants, refer to the Old Testament, as they are considered to be historical. The fig tree is located in the south-east and symbolises the Garden of Eden. The pomegranate tree is located in the north-east the garden of the Song of Songs.
For the New Testament, the presence of symbolic plants is notable. The Olive tree, an allegory of Gethsemane and therefore of the future Easter, is located to the north-east, while the Palm tree, in the garden of the Apocalypse, is located to the south-west.
Plants have always represented a message of ascetic rehabilitation, capable of enveloping those who pass through them in a kind of theophany that unfolds along the way.
