Bellapais
(Thomas;2006)
Bellapais is THE Gothic ruin to visit while in the north. It is actually only a half-ruin as the church is in pretty good shape and the refectory is still used for the occasional concert. But most other parts are indeed so ruined they would look not out of place in Famagusta. This photo shows the entrance to the church, crowned by a funny sort of belfry (which also doubles as the hallmark of Bellapais).
The western part of the cloister. The other three sides are in much better shape: all the walls as well as the roofing is still there.
This is the entrance to the refectory, with a huge Roman sarcophagus in front which the monks, being the ignorants they were, used as a washbasin. Above the entrance are the coats of arms of the Lusignans and of the kingdom of Jerusalem. ("We lost it but never mind.")
One of the many well-preserved corbels in the cloister. It was an amazing and saddening spectacle to see the tour groups being ushered through the whole abbey (church, cloister, refectory, cellars, gardens, roofs, belfry…) in less than fifteen minutes with scarcely anyone paying the slightest attention to these marvelous displays of the ancient craft of stone-masonry.
The eastern part of the abbey, in its time the chapterhouse, but nowadays almost totally in ruins with, once more, the most amazing corbels.
This is an icon from inside the church: Jesus Christ. What a questioning and at the same time amused stare! One of the most touching icons we saw on Cyprus.
Another icon, clearly much more modern: the Virgin Mary castigating a poor devil. Seems to be a pretty easy job though.
Want to see more? Go back to Karpas Peninsula or go on to Buffavento or go up to Northern Cyprus.
$updated from: Northern Cyprus.htxt Mon 04 Mar 2024 16:04:38 trvl2 (By Vero and Thomas Lauer)$