hermitage
/ˈhəːmɪtɪdʒ
/noun
1The dwelling of a hermit, especially when small and remote.We live like the ancient Irish hermits, in separate hermitages, welcome retreatants, and go on the road periodically to give parish missions and retreats....
- That extraordinary complex of shrines, churches, chapels and hermitages, hewn from the rock at Lalibela, were designed as an African mirror to Jerusalem.
- Nhat Hanh keeps an image of Jesus next to the Buddha on the altar in his hermitage in France where, in a place called Plum Village, he maintains a meditation center.
Synonyms
retreat, refuge, haven, sanctuary, sanctum, asylum, hideaway, hideout, hiding place, shelter;
Latin sanctum sanctorum
informal hidey-hole
2 (the Hermitage) A major art museum in St Petersburg, Russia, containing among its collections those begun by Catherine the Great.
Named with reference to the ‘retreat’ in which the empress displayed her treasures to her friends
Origin
Middle English: from Old French, from hermite (see hermit).