A convent is a religious organization and/or building which typically houses nuns or sisters of a religious order. In days past, the convent was a place for nuns to live lives of prayer, seclusion, and mortification. Today's convents are more active in community works and education.
Nuns who join a convent are often asked to pay a dowry to the fund of the convent. Nuns in a convent live a communal life and are obliged to follow rules of celibacy and others. Roman Catholic canon law requires a minimum of three members to establish a convent.
