St. Hilarion and Bellapais – historic castle and monastery

Our private tour takes you to two places that will transport you to the romantic world of the Middle Ages with its knights, nobles and kings. Explore with us at the best-preserved St. Hilarion castle in Cyprus, with the vast fortress complex with its towers offering spectacular views.

We then visit the Gothic Bellapais Monastery, which is also very well preserved and impressive. No less interesting is the small mountain village with its houses, restaurants and small shops.

Tour group price from 349 Euro

 
A trip to the grandiose medieval mountain fortress of St. Hilarion is not just a matter of its breathtaking location on steep limestone cliffs rising from the mountain range high above Kyrenia. Its walls, towers and palace ruins come together to form a unique historical site that reflects the events of an eventful era. Here sieges were suffered, bloody feuds fought, oppressive foreign rule endured. And when the threat subsided, the full splendour of courtly life quickly unfolded again.

Bellapais is considered to be one of the most beautiful monastery ruins in the Mediterranean. It is located near the small village of Beylerbeyi/Bellapais on a rocky outcrop in the Kyrenia Mountains. It is also known as the „White Abbey“ because of the white robes worn by the Premonstratensian monks. The abbey was founded around 1198 by Augustinians who had fled Jerusalem from Saladin. At that time, the abbot was granted a number of rights, such as the infulia, the right to wear the bishop’s mitre during services, or the right to wear a sword and golden spurs outside the monastery. As a result, the monastery became very wealthy.

Please note:

• We will pick you up at your hotel or arrange a meeting point with you. We will then take you on a tour to Northern Cyprus, without the stress, hectic pace and time pressure of other guests. Please bring your passport. Of course, we will show you the castle of St. Hlarion and the ruine of Bellapais Monastary, even thesmall streets and lovely houses with shops and galleries in the viallage, but we will not forget to show you some of the really interesting places to take pictures. We’ll find out what really interests and excites you. So our tour with you is very personal. Don’t worry, we won’t tell you any novels about the history, we’ll just give you some information and give you time to take in the impressions and / or take photos.

  You can find detailed information about the sightseeings here: St. Hilarion / Bellapais – Things to know

• Before we start the return journey to your hotel, we invite you to a local restaurant in the village of Bellapais, where you can enjoy a typical lunch. If you prefer not to eat meat, vegetarian or vegan options are also available.
• We will pick you up at your hotel at 9:00. You must be dressed appropriately to enter the interior of the churches and mosques. Knees and shoulders covered, a big scarf sometimes helps the ladies a lot.
  All in all, the tour lasts between 5.5 and 6 hours, it depends on you, because this event is only for you and your family, partner or friends that you book in.

These are yours options to book your „St. Hilarion/Bellapais“ Tour, depending on how many people you sign up:

• St. Hilarion/Bellapais Tour  1-2 person, Tour price: € 349.
• each additional person (max 2), + 89 Euro

Our special service for you:

We will be happy to pick you up from your hotel free of charge if you are staying in the Agia Napa – Protaras – Paralimni region, or in Larnaca Destrict
(e.g. Oroklini – Pyla – Livadia – Larnaca City). Pick up is also possible for more distant routes, but we will then charge a small surcharge.

We are happy to accept your booking by email. Or book now using our online booking form. We will take care of the rest and look forward to seeing you.

Tags:
bellapais ruine, girne, hictoric, Kyrenia, monastary, northern cyprus, private guided tour, st. hilarion castle