Bellapais Abbey

Bellapais was founded by Augustinian canons at the start of the thirteenth century and built up under the Lusignan kings into the finest Gothic monastery on the island. The church still stands complete; the cloister is roofless with its tracery mostly intact, and the refectory is a long vaulted hall with a pulpit set in the wall and windows looking straight down the slope to the sea. Lawrence Durrell lived in the village below in the 1950s and wrote about it, which brought the place a readership it still has.

What you actually see

• The refectory - a long vaulted hall with a wall pulpit and sea views.
• The cloister - roofless Gothic arcading around the central court.
• The church - the thirteenth-century abbey church, still roofed and intact.
• The terrace - the abbey standing on a shelf above the coastal plain.

When to go

March to June and September to November are the most comfortable. Summer evenings bring concerts in the cloister. Mornings are quietest for photography.

Honest expectations

The village around it is now heavily geared to visitors and property sales. Some parts of the abbey are closed for conservation. Parking is very limited and ID is needed at the crossing points.

Nearby

Kyrenia is on the coast below, and St Hilarion is west along the range.