What is the difference between a Monestary and a Cloister?

As I understand it, the monastery is the entire place, and the cloister is just like the most holy place or something. These links may help inform you:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monastery
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloister

It's complicated =) At least according to the wikipedia stuff, a Cloister is an enclosed garden (bounded by a covered walkway all around, and a Monastery is the entire complex (and in Catholicism implies a community of men, rather than women).

There's also "Cloistered" which means the monk/nun doesn't interact with the outside world, which can lead to the confusion-- "Cloister" being an architectural element of a Monestary in which a monk could be Cloistered. (I hadn't realized that a Cloister wasn't a nunnery for Cloistered nuns...)

Isn't it awesome how even the answers can learn stuff from the question on fluther? d-: