Ephrata Cloister
National Historic Landmark · Ephrata, Pennsylvania
The surviving buildings of a celibate German Pietist community founded in 1732 by Conrad Beissel in Lancaster County, and one of the earliest communal religious societies in America. The brothers and sisters slept on wooden benches with wooden blocks for pillows, kept doorways deliberately low and hallways deliberately narrow to teach humility, ate one meal a day and rose at midnight to watch for the return of Christ. They also ran one of the most productive printing operations in the colonies and developed a body of a cappella hymnody that has no obvious parallel anywhere.
632 West Main Street, Ephrata, Pennsylvania, 17522, United States
A Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission site. Generally open Wednesday to Sunday from spring through autumn, with reduced days and partial winter closure — verify before travelling. Historic buildings by guided tour; grounds self-guided with admission. Concerts and the Christmas programme run on scheduled dates.
Ephrata Cloister on Spottos · Explore more places on Spottos