Eastern Catholic monasteries

A lavra or laura (; Cyrillic: ла́вра) is a type of monastery consisting of a cluster of cells or caves for hermits, with a church and sometimes a refectory at the center. Lavra monasteries operate within the Orthodox and other Eastern Christian traditions; the name is also used by some Catholic communities. The term in Greek initially meant a narrow lane or an alley in a city. In a later Eastern Orthodox context, the term took on the new meaning of a large and important monastery.