Less efficient for pure production; some tiles wasted on empty space. However, historically accurate—real monasteries had central garth (lawn). 4.3 The Hybrid Three-Pod Layout Goal: Balanced production of herbs, wine, and attractiveness.
G G G G G G G G G G M M M G G G G M M M G G G G M M M G G G G G G G G G G This pattern (a hexagon rotated 45°) fits perfectly inside a Manhattan diamond of radius 6. Place your Noria 5 tiles south of the monastery’s center for full coverage. End of paper. anno 1404 monastery garden layout
If the monastery is centered inside the Noria’s radius (e.g., its center at distance 5 from Noria), then all 24 possible modules might be watered. But if the monastery is near the edge, only 12–16 modules will be watered. Thus, pre-planning your monastery location before building Norias is critical. 4. Three Optimal Layouts Based on extensive testing (via the Anno 1404 community forums and my own simulations using the game’s map editor), three layouts dominate. 4.1 The Compact Production Layout (for Herbs or Grapes) Goal: Maximize watered modules for resource production, ignoring aesthetics. Less efficient for pure production; some tiles wasted
Ugly, no flower gardens for attractiveness. Not suitable for a beauty-building city. 4.2 The Aesthetic Cloister Layout (for Attractiveness) Goal: Maximize attractiveness (flower gardens) while maintaining symmetry and leaving a central courtyard. G G G G G G G G
Moreover, the irrigation requirement mirrors the reality of medieval terraforming : Cistercians built leats and aqueducts to water desert gardens (e.g., the Monastery of Santa Maria de Huerta in Spain). The Noria (a Persian water wheel introduced to Europe via Al-Andalus) is historically accurate for the 15th century. Even experienced players make these errors: