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This article is about the building in Age of Empires II. For other uses, see Monastery. |
| “ | Used to create and improve Monks. Garrisoned relics generate gold. | ” |
| —Age of Empires II description | ||
The Monastery is a special building in Age of Empires II that becomes available once the Castle Age is reached. It trains and improves Monks and Missionaries. Monasteries are available to all civilizations, except the Armenians and Georgians, which have the Fortified Church instead.
Relics can be garrisoned in Monasteries to produce gold. Monasteries cannot be converted.
Tactics and placement[]
Monasteries primarily serve as a Monk production and upgrade building. If the player intends to use their Monks for offensive purposes like a Mush (Monk rush) they must have at least three (preferably four) Monasteries since the production of Monks is slow and the unit itself moves slowly. Also, technologies must be researched at the same time, foremost of which are Sanctity and Redemption. If not going for Monk rush, it is rare to build more than 1 Monastery.
Some technologies in the Monastery also help against enemy Monks (Devotion, Faith, Heresy) or are supportive for troops (Herbal Medicine), so it is advisable to also have a Monastery even if the player does not make use of Monks.
Monasteries also have economic relevance. Each Monastery can hold a maximum of 10 Relics, constantly producing gold with each one garrisoned. Relics become especially important in games with no teams in the late game, as they are usually the only way left to get gold at all. Often, the player holding the most Relics wins a long game.
As emergency production buildings[]
The Monastery is not a military building, and does not have any prerequisites other than the player being in the Castle Age. This is important for a lot of boom strategies where a Blacksmith and Market are used to get to the Castle Age. Upon reaching the Castle Age, it will be difficult to get out military to defend the player's settlement as they will need to build a Barracks and then most likely also Archery Ranges and Stables before starting to produce unupgraded units. Comparatively, a Monastery can be built, Monks can be produced immediately, and they are instantly fully functional. Combined with a Siege Workshop producing Mangonels, the player will have good answers against attacking archers, Knights, and infantry with minimal investment. With additional walls, the aggressive options left to their opponents are further limited when they can no longer get Eagle Warriors or Scout Cavalry into the player's base.
Non-standard gameplay[]
Monasteries can be of key importance in any game with standard victory condition. If a team holds all Relics in their Monasteries, a counter starts to count down from 200 years (16 minutes 40 seconds in the in-game clock), similar to when a Wonder is built. If the enemy team(s) fail to ungarrison at least one Relic before the counter reaches zero, the game is won. If a team goes for a Relic win, it is advised to garrison all Relics in a single Monastery and massively defend that Monastery with defensive structures and strong units, preferably ranged units, heavy cavalry, and siege equipment. In any case the defenses should be built before the last Relic is garrisoned. Ideally, the opposing team does not even notice the effort and is left surprised. This victory condition may also serve as a distraction against the rival team if the team has several Monasteries holding Relics: one Monastery (usually the best defended) can hold most of them and the others have just one each in order to act as dummies.
If the game mode Capture the Relic is chosen, every player starts the game with an indestructible Monastery and attempts to garrison the only Relic (which is sitting in the very center of the map at the game start) in their Monastery. The first player to achieve that wins the game.
Trainable units and technologies[]
Rusty red: Generic buildings- Aqua blue: Generic units
- Forest green: Technologies
- Deep violet: Unique units
- Deep cornflower blue: Regional units
- Reddish-orange: Regional buildings
- Crimson pink: Unique buildings
Clicking on the icon links to the corresponding page.
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Availability grid[]
The following table shows the availability of the technologies for every civilization. An 'X' in the last column indicates that all technologies are available. For Monk-specific technologies, see here. The list also includes Fortified Churches, since they function similarly with respect to Monks. This list does not mention Devotion as it is available to all civilizations.
| Available | |
| Unavailable | |
| Fully covered by civilization bonus if unavailable |
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 Armenians
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 Aztecs
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 Bengalis
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 Berbers
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 Bohemians
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 Britons
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 Bulgarians
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 Burgundians
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 Burmese
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 Byzantines
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 Celts
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 Chinese
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 Cumans
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 Dravidians
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 Ethiopians
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 Franks
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 Georgians
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 Goths
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 Gurjaras
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 Hindustanis
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 Huns
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 Inca
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 Italians
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 Japanese
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 Jurchens
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 Khitans
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 Khmer
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 Koreans
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 Lithuanians
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 Magyars
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 Malay
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 Malians
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 Maya
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 Mongols
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 Persians
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 Poles
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 Portuguese
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 Romans
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 Saracens
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 Sicilians
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 Slavs
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 Tatars
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 Teutons
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 Turks
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 Vietnamese
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 Vikings
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 Shu
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 Wei
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 Wu
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Further statistics[]
| Technologies | |
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 Hit points
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 Masonry (+10%) Architecture (+10%)
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| Armor | Masonry (+1/+1, +3 building armor) Architecture (+1/+1, +3 building armor)
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| Line of Sight |  Town Watch (+4) Town Patrol (+4)
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| Build speed |  Treadmill Crane (+20%)
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| Other |  Hussite Reforms (gold cost of Monks and technologies replaced with food, Bohemians only) Grand Trunk Road (+10% Relic gold production, Hindustanis only)
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| Hit points
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Byzantines (+30%/+40% in the Castle/Imperial Age)
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| Damage resistance | Georgians (-20% from elevation)
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| Resource cost | Malians (-15%)
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| Build speed | Romans (+5%) Spanish (+30%)
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| Other | Burmese (Monastery technologies are 50% cheaper) Romans (+5% repairing speed)
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| Conversion resistance | Teutons (+3 min, +1 max)
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| Research speed | Portuguese (+25%)
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 Work rate
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Lithuanians (+20%)
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| Other | Aztecs (Relics generate +33% gold) Burgundians (Relics generate 30 food/min) Georgians (Repairing costs -25%)
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Civilization bonuses[]
- Byzantines: Town Watch and Town Patrol are free.
- Chinese: Technologies that benefit Monasteries are 5%/10%/15% cheaper in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
- Italians: Researching Masonry, Architecture and Treadmill Crane is 33% cheaper.
- Jurchens: Researching Masonry, Architecture, and Treadmill Crane costs -75% wood and is 100% faster.
- Persians: Researching Town Watch and Town Patrol is 10%/15%/20% faster in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
- Spanish: Researching technologies that benefit Monasteries provides 20 gold each.
Team bonuses[]
- Malians: Researching Masonry, Architecture, and Treadmill Crane is 80% faster.
Changelog[]
The Age of Kings[]
- Chinese: Can research Redemption. Cannot research Block Printing.
The Conquerors[]
- Heresy introduced.
- Herbal Medicine introduced.
- Theocracy introduced.
- Spanish: Missionary introduced.
- Teutons: Cannot research Herbal Medicine.
The Forgotten[]
- Slavs: Can research Fervor.
Definitive Edition[]
- Chinese: With update 34699, receive Block Printing; with update 36202, lose access to Redemption.
- Cumans: Initially can research Redemption. With update 36202, Redemption removed from their technology tree.
- Portuguese: with update 42848, Monastery technologies and technologies that benefit Monasteries are researched 30% faster.
- Teutons: Herbal Medicine added to the technology tree. As a new civilization bonus it is free.
Dawn of the Dukes[]
Dynasties of India[]
- Bohemians: With update 61321, Monasteries are no longer affected by the wood discount bonus.
Return of Rome[]
- Slavs: With update 87863, cannot research Fervor.
The Mountain Royals[]
- With update 99311, Devotion was introduced.
Design[]
Each architecture set has a unique design for a Monastery. Since update 141935, the Ethiopians, Malians, and Tatars have unique Monasteries, while the Mediterranean Monastery has two different models, depending on the civilization.
Architecture sets[]
Each architecture set has its own design for the Monastery. The architectural traits from the real world are:
- The Western European Monastery has a distinct Gothic style, similar to Cistercian abbeys like Aberconwy, Medmenham, and Fountains Abbey in Britain.
- The Central European Monastery has features typical of a Romanesque church. It resembles Lessay Abbey in Normandy, France, and the Gelati Monastery in Georgia, which is far away from Central Europe.
- The Middle Eastern Monastery has traits of late Egyptian Mamluk architecture. The dome resembles the one found on the Qaytbay mosque in Cairo. The mosque's entrance however is a trait commonly seen on Timurid mosques in Central Asia.
- The East Asian Monastery, used for all East Asian architecture set civilizations except the Mongols and the Khitans, is a generic Japanese shrine combining elements from both Shinto shrines (Torii gate) and Japanese Buddhist temples (Bonshō bell). It is out of place for the non-Japanese civilizations, especially the Three Kingdoms period dynasties who were exposed to neither Shintoism nor Buddhism.
- The Native American Monastery is a short Mesoamerican pyramid similar to the Temple of the Sun in Palenque.
- In the HD Edition, the Eastern European Monastery is mostly just a copy of the Central European one, but with some features based from the church of Akos and St. John's Church in Malbork. The Definitive Edition's Eastern European Monastery is based on Eastern Orthodox churches instead. Specifically, it closely resembles St. Paraskeva Church in Ukraine.
- In the "Forgotten Empires" mod version, the unique Slavic Monastery resembles 12th-century Russian churches like Intercession on the Nerl in Bogolyubovo and the Dormition Cathedral in Moscow.
- The Southeast Asian Monastery resembles buildings in the Angkor Wat temple complex.
- The Indian Monastery is based on the Konark Sun Temple.
- In the HD Edition, the Mediterranean Monastery has elements of both Gothic and Romanesque architecture, a combination commonly found in northern and central Italy. The Definitive Edition's version has an early Renaissance style based on Santa Maria Novella church in Florence.
- Since update 141935, the Byzantines, Romans, and Sicilians have a new Monastery model, which seems to be based on the Daphni Monastery.
- The Monastery of the Cumans, Huns, Khitans, and Mongols is based on an Ovoo, a stone cairn used in Mongolian regions as a road sign or boundary marker, later becoming a shrine of animism. It reuses the model of the Shrine.
Civilizations[]
- The Ethiopian Monastery is based on the Church of Saint George in Lalibela. It is also present in the Scenario Editor in its underground form as the Rock Church.
- The Malian (formerly African) Monastery is based on the Larabanga Mosque.
- The Tatar (formerly Central Asian) Monastery has the typical features of a mosque. It has a similar entrance to Timurid mosques such as Herat and Bibi-Khanym and a minaret similar to Po-i-Kalyan.
History[]
| “ | Monasteries were closed religious communities to which particularly devout priests, scholars, and believers withdrew for a life of prayer, study, and service. Monastic life was embraced by several religions, including Christianity and Buddhism. Residents of monasteries became known as monks. In parts of Dark Age Europe, monasteries were the only remaining centers of learning. Irish monks, for example, were instrumental in preserving much ancient knowledge and spreading it back into Europe as the Dark Ages waned. Over time monasteries grew rich in donated land. They became very important local institutions as a source of educated men who could serve as administrators. They also provided health care and emergency relief from their stockpiles of food. | ” |
| —Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings manual | ||
Trivia[]
- During development, the Monastery was at one time planned to be available from the Dark Age and to have more than one sprite, like other buildings. Besides the temple, it would also have evident housing and working areas for the Monks.
- In real life, both Islam and Zoroastrianism (the pre-Islamic Persian religion) condemn monasticism and have neither monks nor monasteries, at least in theory. However, loosely similar movements arose in Islam in the Late Middle Ages, like the Marabouts, Dervishes, and Assassins.
- In the Definitive Edition, Monastery foundations display an Artifact from Age of Empires, which is seen being buried under. It was originally planned to have a Relic, but it was changed after playtesters found it confusing.
- For the Definitive Edition, multiple regional Monk models were made and regional Monastery models were conceptualized, but these were not implemented into the game at release until update 141935.
- The Lithuanian pagan Monastery concept was added to the Scenario Editor and featured in campaigns in Dawn of the Dukes as the Pagan Shrine.
- Devotion is the only Monastery technology that is available to all civilizations.
Gallery[]
Video overview[]
See also[]
Some Scenario Editor buildings which are religious in nature are:
