St. Gallen, Stiftsbibliothek, Codex 1092

Summary: The Plan of St. Gall is the earliest preserved and most extraordinary visualization of a building complex produced in the Middle Ages. Drawn and annotated on five pieces of parchment sewn together, the St. Gall Plan is 112 cm x 77.5 cm and includes the ground plans of some forty structures as well as gardens, fences, walls, a road, and an orchard. Three hundred thirty three inscriptions identify the buildings and their uses, including a church. a scriptorium, lodgings for visiting monks, a monastic dormitory, refectory, kitchen, bake and brew house, guest house, abbot's residence, and an infirmary, and numerous fields and industrial out-buildings.