Bellapais
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The road to Lawrence Durrell's house
The jewel in the whole village is Bellapais Abbey, the abbey of peace, built by monks of the Premonstratensian order in the 13th century. It is a most imposing ruin in a wonderful situation commanding a long view down to Girne and the sea.
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Bellapais_abbey_01.jpg
Bellapais_abbey_01.jpg
Most of the monastic buildings can be traced around the cloister : in Britain these would normally be built on the south side of the church so that to some extent it protected the living quarters from the cold air from the north. At Bellapais, the monastic buildings are on the north probably to be cooler although occasionally, no matter where, the position was dictated by the lay of the land.