Necessarium

Remains of the former Necessarium in the Buch monastery

The Necessarium from Latin necesse est ("it is necessary") was a toilet in some medieval monasteries that was located directly above a flowing water or a water course branched off from it. The Necessarium was mostly located near the dormitory , sometimes it was only accessible from there.

Only very few Necessaria have survived , for example in Zwettl Abbey (Lower Austria) and Buch Monastery (Saxony).