Must-see
Bellapais Abbey
Lusignan-era Gothic; a wrong option in the UNESCO question
The story
Bellapais is a Gothic monastery of the 13th and 14th centuries in a mountain village above Kyrenia, on the edge of a cliff. It was founded around 1200, probably under the first king of Cyprus, Aimery de Lusignan. At first a community of Augustinians lived here. In the early 13th century it adopted the rule of the Premonstratensians, a Catholic order known as the White Canons. The Ottoman conquest of 1570 to 1571 ended the monastery, and its church became the Orthodox church of the village. The Cyprus Department of Antiquities calls the abbey one of the main monuments of Gothic monastic architecture in the Eastern Mediterranean. It stands in the north of the island, which the Republic of Cyprus has not controlled since 1974.
Bellapais is not on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Cyprus has only three sites on the List: Paphos, the painted churches of the Troodos and Choirokoitia. So in the question with the options Salamis, Bellapais, Choirokoitia and Kourion, the answer is Choirokoitia.
Visiting
The abbey is in the north of the island. You can get there through the crossing points in Nicosia: on Ledra Street on foot, at Agios Dometios by car. For a car, separate insurance is bought at the crossing. If the car is a rental, first check whether the contract allows a trip to the north. There is an entry fee. In winter the abbey closes earlier than in summer, so better check the hours in advance.
Photos
Sources
- Department of Antiquities of Cyprus — The Looting of Cultural Heritage in Occupied Cyprus: Bellapais Abbey
- Μεγάλη Κυπριακή Εγκυκλοπαίδεια (Polignosi) — Μπέλαπαϊς, αββαείο
- A Premonstratensian Atlas (SUNY Geneseo) — Bellapais
- UNESCO World Heritage Centre — Cyprus: sites on the World Heritage List and the Tentative List
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