St. Hilarion and Bellapais – Things to know

Bellapais Abbey is now the ruins of a monastery built in the 13th century on the northern outskirts of the small village of Bellapais in northern Cyprus, about five kilometres from the town of Kyrenia. The monastery is situated at an altitude of 220 metres above sea level and offers a wide view of Kyrenia and the Mediterranean Sea.

The site was once the residence of the Bishop of Kyrenia and a refuge from Arab attacks in the 7th and 8th centuries. The first inhabitants known to have settled here or nearby were the Canons of the Holy Sepulchre, who fled after Saladin’s conquest of Jerusalem in 1187. The Canons were the guardians of the Holy Sepulchre. more »