Monastic ideals combine religion with practical life. The Benedictines are famous for their keywords: prayer and work (ora et labora) as they want to associate contemplation with activity. That is why there are work-rooms in the abbacy next to the church. It is quite obvious to have bedrooms, dining room, recreation room as there are many things to be discussed together. St. Benedict mandated to have everything a monk requires. The buildings in Tyniec proved that the monks put a lot of effort to implement the 'Rule'.

Apart from the cloister, the southern part of the monastery on the ground floor has a num­ber of  bigger rooms and a refectory- a dining room. Upstairs there are the monks' rooms called a cell. Each of them lives individually. This part of the monastery is Gothic but the walls date back to earlier times. We must bear in mind that throughout centuries due to levelling the hill extended a little. In Middle Ages it was urgent to extend the hill in this direction but the buildings were placed far below. The levelling on a big scale took place in XVI and XVII century. On Gothic buildings, which form basements now, erected an edifice, i.e. the present southern wing of the whole. Privileged by the nature, they constituted the representative part of the monastery. There was a big refectory in the corner and next to it a recreation room. The marble portal, which leads from the refectory towards south, has its sandstone counterpart on the opposite side. There are no inscriptions on the marble, apart from those made by tourists from XIX, when this part was ruined and easily available it was written as follows:

S. YSIDORVUS SCITO QVO TEMPORE
LOQVARIS CONSIDERA

QVANDO DICAS. TEMPORE CONGRVO LOQVERE TEMPORE

CONGRVO TACE. ANNO C[OMI]NI 1640 DIE 21 IVNY

(St. Isidore [of Sivilla, died in 636, wrote:] Learn when you must talk. Think before you say a word. Talk as well as be silent in a proper time. The portal was set up June 21 1640)

The inscription on the portal, which also leads from recreation room to the yard, also concerns the difficult art of talking. In spite of the fact that the marble is damaged, it is possible to read the inscription. It is as follows:

ISTIC EST THESAVRVS STVLTIS
IN LINGVA POSTIVS VT QVA

ESTVI HABEANT MALE LOQVI
DE MELIORIBUS PLAVT

(The language is the tool for foolish people. Plautus)

Perhaps, a school functioned here praised by the writers of the Golden Age.

The stairwell led upstairs where in southeastern corner was a huge, well sun-filled room. Probably it was decorated with the portraits of the previous abbots. The paintings were also put in the corridors. They formed two series; the first one - preserved in a female Benedictine monastery in Staniątki - it represents 20 scenes of Casimir the Restorer's life, the hypothetical founder of the first monks in Tyniec. Father Stanisław Sczygielski OSB, following Długosz, described the whole of it. The XVII century work represents a certain  artistic value. It reflects well the current vision of the beginnings. The second series of the paintings ornaments the walls of the monastery. The theme of the paintings are the 'monastic rituals', different scenes of the monks' life.

In another part - rebuilt after the siege in 1771 - Abbot Janowski, an enthusiast of books, housed a library. It was a very big library supported by six pillars, beautifully vaulted with the windows opened on both sides.

Tyniec library has its own history which can be generally reconstructed. One of the examples of Medieval book collection is Sakramentarz preserved in National Library in Warsaw, of Renaissance character - catalogue of Abbot Mielecki from 1598. The precious archive records burnt in Lvov during bombing of the city in 1848, considerable number of antique books was transported to Tarnów and survived in a library of the seminary. The book collection of Tyniec did not compete with Cracow ones which dominated over them in many respects. We may presume it had more Benedictines books - they have a significant meaning for the local history.

The book collection was placed in an important location when in 1812 - after the defeat of Napoleon troops - survivors arrived in Cracow and Tyniec. The wounded, sick also laid in the monastery among others in the library. Soon the Benedictines were displaced and the book collection was carried off or spoiled. In 1831 the fire caused by lightning which hit the library's roof destroyed all roofs of the monastery. There was nobody to rebuild it.