GUATEMALA | Wednesday, 20 May 2009 | Views [269]
As we explored the outside of the nun's quarters these alcoves were present between the outer walls of each cell. At the top of the alcove is a hole that I presumed to be a vent. My guess is that in colder days a fire was built in each of the alcoves which heated the rock walls of the two adjacent cells producing a form of radiant heat in the living cells. Because the fires were on the outside of the building and not within each room the fires could be built and tended to by someone without entering the the nun's quarters and there would be no smoke to bother the nun's.
