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Premonstratensian Abbey is the most remarkable Gothic monument still remaining in Cyprus.
It has been known under various names, such as the Abbey De la Paid, or the Abbey of
Peace, which became corrupted in the Venetian times into Bella Paise, the Abbey Blanche or
the White Abbey, from the color of the habit worn by the members of the order. |
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The
Premonstratensian Order also called the Norbertine- was an Order of Augustinian canons
founded in 1120 by St. Norbert Archbishop of Magdeburg, and its first monastery was of
great strictness, and the monks followed a life of deep austerity. At one time they held a
certain amount of property in England, including Bayham Abbey in Kent. The strength of the
Premonstratensians at present lies in Belgium where the great Abbey of Tongerloo is still
in the hands of the Order. Though the Abbey of Bella Paise had considerable privileges,
its origin in obscure. Originally there were canons of St. Augustine here, but Archbishop
Trierry (1205-1213) allowed them to become members of the Premonstratensian Order. |
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1246 a very precious relic consisting of a fragment of the True Cross and a sum of 600
Besants was bequeathed to the Abbey by Sir Roger the Norman, on condition that the monks
should ever say masses for the soul of the testator and his wife Alix. But the principal
benefactor of the Abbey was Hung III (1267-1284), who was probably the responsible for the
building as we see it today. It was this king who granted to the community the privilege
of being a Mitred Abbot, and of carrying a gilded sword and wearing golden spurs. |
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Hugh died at Tyre and his body was brought over to
Cyprus and buried within the church.
Towards the end of the Venetian are the monastery had sadly declined and the
Lieutenant-Governor was scandalized to find that the monks had taken wives-indeed some did
not even restrict themselves to one and that the only motivates they receive were their
own children. |
| DESCRIPTION The gateway to the abbey is
near the southwest corner of the site. It has a central archway, flanked by two wicker
gates. Fortifications were built over the gateway, probably in the l4th century, including
a large tower and a drawbridge, but nothing survives of these today. The church is without
doubt the monist ancient part of the building, and is in a superb state of preservation.
It consists of a square of a square ended Chancel, a crossing with transepts and nave of
two bays with aisles and is surmounted by a large belfry. The style of erection seems to
be early thirteenth century and the earliest part of the church is the choir and the
windows of the nave. In the middle of the thirteenth century the pillars, vaults of the
nave, and porch were added. No monuments remain, though many famous persons, including
King Hugh III, were buried in the church. |
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The
apse the porches of the church were originally enriched with frescoes, of a medallion
which once was painted with the busts of the Apostles. The frescoes in the porch are
fragmentary, and are probably fifteenth-century Italian work. The large painting above the
great west door is modern. |
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cloister was built in the fourteenth century but stone-robbers have for decades during
British colonial rule wrenched out nearly all the tracery from the eighteen arches, but
enough remains of the fragments to allow of a reconstruction of the design. At the north
west corner stands the marble lavabo, used by the monks to wash their hands in which a
carved marble sarcophagus of the second century. A.D. has been incorporated. The upper
sarcophagus is decorated with bulls heads at the corner, while on the panels is a child
supporting a heavy floral swag with lion masks above.The crowning glory of the monastery
is the refectory. A door built in the style of the late thirteenth century enters it; on
the marble lintel are three shields bearing the coats of arms of the Lusignans. |
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Jerusalem
and the Royal Quartering of Cyprus. The refectory as we see it to day, was almost
certainly built by King Hugh IV (1324-1329).It measures 90 feet by 32 feet; fourteen
pillars, seven on each side, support the arched vault. In the north wall are six deep
windows, which give superb views of the sea, and the distant hills of Anatolia beyond. The
pulpit for praying during meals by one of the monks still remain unharmed; it is lit by a
small window and is reached by a stair-case built in the thickness of the wall. Against
two sides of the refectory are the remains of a wall seat, which rises to a higher level
at the east end; this suggests the presence of a dais for the high table. |
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each of the windows on the north side is a drainhole for the water used for washing the
floor after meals.In the west wall of the refectory a doorway leads to the kitchen and to
the Cellarium. From the north end of the cellarium a stone staircase leads down to the
Crypt, below the refectory. |
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This
has two spacious vaulted rooms, and was used as a storehouse for oil and other produce of
the abbey's lands.East of the cloister lie the ruins of the Undercroft (workroom) and
Chapter house, with the monks' dormitory above.In every bay of the dormitory there is a
small window and a wall cupboard so that each monk had thus at the head of his bed a place
to keep his belongings and a window through which to gaze over the green and smiling
country side. |
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Chapter house in a small square room with a central marble pillar and capital which
supported the vaulting; this pillar was probably brought from the ruins of Lamboussa. The
stone seats of the monks survive and the carved corbels of the vaulting ribs show a
certain ingenuity in their design: They include a man carrying on his shoulder a double
ladder; |
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Ulysses
between two sirens; a woman reading; a youth fighting two beasts; a girl holding a rosary;
a monkey and a cat in a pear-tree, with a man holding a shield the bearings of which are
now much defaced; and finally a monk dressed in a cloak.
A staircase in the south cloister leads to the flat roof where the small treasury is built
against the southwest corner of the church. The little rectangular cupboards still remain
but their doors have long since disappeared. |
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Bellapais
Abbey is a major tourist attraction not only because of its
convenient distance, 5 km from Girne (Kyrenia), but also it is, as
the name implies, 'bellepais or beautiful peace." An ideal
place for a summer afternoon; situated in a secluded nook at the
foothills of the Girne mountain range. The Abbey is well looked
after by the custodian who lives in the village and it is u nder the
control of the Department of Antiquities.
The location of both
the Abbey and village of Bellapais is close to a very copious
mountain spring which supplics water not only to the village but
also to
many miles of orange and lemon trees, extending all the
way down the valley to Ozanköy (Kazafani).
The
monks settled herc more than 700 years ago and chose the site
because of the abundant water supply, for one must remember that all
monasteries In the Middle Ages were self.contained economic units
and entirely dependent on the efficiency of the monastic farm for
survival. Just before reaching the village a fine view of the abbey
can be obtained from the main road and this is shown in fig.l. It is
situated on a natural terrace from which there are magnificent views
of
mountain and sea. |
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Fortified
gateway to Bellapais Abbey
Is The Abbey a castle? Have a look at the gateway
as shown in fig.2 and there is no doubt that the Abbey at one time w
as a fortified place. The gateway is similar to that of a mediaeval
castle with portcullis and machicolated (overhanging) embattlements.
What was there to defend? T'he monks or the abbot? No, they were
expendable.
It was treasure that they wanted to protect. The gold and silver
were kept in vault-like cupboards around the cloisters. Is there any
treasure left for us? Not a bit, for it was looted by the Venetians
just before they surrendered the castle town of Girne to the Turks
in 1571. It is mentioned in some ancient chronicles that wagon loads
of the loot went down to the harbour of Girne in the 16th century.
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One must
remember that an architect is an artist, whereas a builder is merely
a workman carrying out another person's ideas. It is quite plausible
to suggest that the Gothic arch originated by the fortuitous
observation of intersecting arches as explained in fig.5. Roman
architects were aware of this, but never made use of it, as they
preferred the majesty of "the triumphal" arch of
semicircular shape. The
writer believes that the origin lies in basilica construction. It is
easy to have a square building with Roman arches supporting the
roof, as in fig.6 ,but
when you come to the rectangular shaped building the arch along the
short wall must be made higher and this can only be done effectively
by, a pointed arch, raising A to B in fig. 7.
There is
archeological evidence that the first pointed arch has been found in
some ruined buildings near Persepolis dating about 500 a.d In late
Roman times (Byzantine) the Churches
were of the basilica type and hundred of years later the Christians
developed the pointed arch as a means of building very tall
churches, in fact, cathedrals. They wanted height to give the
impression of solemnity. to reach up and up to the sky, i.e. heaven above. The Moslem religion was not concerned with
these Christian beliefs and they developed the dome and minaret.
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Bellapais
Abbey well displays the use of the Gothic areh in achieving height;
the best example is to be seen on the east wall of the Abbey as
shown in fig.8, Here it will be noticed how small the windows are.
If you do have large stained glass windows, then the outer walls
must be strengthened by massive stone buttresses, and if it is to be
a cathetral, then a whole series of flying' buttresses must be built
along the exterior walls. However, Christians preferred their
churches ana cathedrals to be lit with 'dim religious light" to
inspire reverence, the fear of God springing from a natural fear of
the dark.
All
visitors are greatly impressed by the beauty of the magnificent
Gothic arches springing up from the luxuriant local green of the
orange and lemon groves. To Laurence Durrell, who lived here for
some years. Bellapais w as a heaven of rest a paradise of peace. He must have stared at the cloisters
for so long that, to him the bacKground curtain of mountains become
fretted with Gothic arches. Remember that the greenery of this
paradise is related to the Moslem idea of such a place, for the
relief from the desert is Green, the Moslem colour.
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The
Church and the Cloisters
The church was founded by refugee monks from Palestine in 1206
a.d. and is the oldest building in the Abbey. This Gothic edifice was a Latin church for more than
300 years, its very name Bellapais is Latin, but with the arrival of the Turks in 1571 it was handed over
to the Greek Orthodox church simply because the Turks
would have no dealings with the Latins after their adventures in the
Crusades.
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The exterior is not very
imposing except for the tall belfry tower which dominates the
landscape for miles around.
The church is kept locked, on account of the dangers
of vandalism, but the custodian opens the door for
all visitors. In the porch (fig.9) are some 16th century
wall paintings in the Italian style, but the interior is a grand
sight when all the lights are switched on, because
it is the practice of Greek Orthodox religion to have
church interiors highly decorative. As usual the altar is at the
eastern end and the wooden screen the Iconostasis, added in 1884,
separates the sanctuary from the choir and congregation. It is the
place from Which hang the icons, religious paintings which portray
scenes from the bible and various saints. The use of pictures in
churches was very necessary in the old times, as the Church affirms
"to instruct the ignorant." One must remember that in most
Middle East countries, illiteracy was about 90% of the population,
and if you can't read, you must look at the pictures. Are we going
back to the Middle Ages w ith the increasing number of comic strips
in the newspapers? The ruination of churches by Moslems is a myth;
witness the splendid well-kept condition of this church, also the
one at Karaman (Karmi). The sketches (fig.10), showing both church
and cloisters, is the conventiunal view that is found in most
tourist brochures, but for the keen photographer there's plenty of
scope elsewhere in the abbey.
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The cloisters were that party of the abbey, which provided the monks
with a covered walk to enchance monastic seclusion. Our word,
claustrophobia, is derived from cloister, a place where any morbid
fear the monks had living in such a confined space would be
compensated by monastic dreams in their dormitories. The remnants of
the stone ribs is the tall Gothic arches give one some idea of the
beautiful stone tracery in its original state. One wonders why it
has not suffered much from earthquakes for Cyprus is in an earth
quake zone. The answer is in the relative stability of the Girne
(Kyrenia) mountain range for the last hundred thousand years. the
inside lawn of the cloisters, looks through the tall arches to the
mountains beyond and, on a fine summer evening the slanting rays of
the sun light up stone carvings and distant stone stairs leading to
the monks' dormitories. |
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The whole
scene holds together with the tall pointed spires of the dark green
cypress trees. This view
is shown in fig.11, but we must remind our readers that
to catch these shafts of sunlight lighting up the stone
work, and casting long shadows on the mountain peaks, is only to be had on a late summer evening. In any
season always visit the abbey in the late afternoon, and while away the remaining time in the Tree of Idleness.
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In 1940
four cypress trees were planted in the cloister
lawn and now they are beginning to rise above the
entire abbey. The gardens outside are ablaze with all manner of
brilliant flowers, a garden paradise first started by a famous Greek
gardener by the name Kostas Kollis, whose green fingers made both
him and the abbey famous among tourists. Needless to say, the
present custodian has striven admirably to keep up this tradition of
flowers among the stones. There are notices in Turkish and English
requesting visitors not to pick the flowers.
The
writer has made many paintings of this abbey for the last 4 years
and recently he has discovered what must be the finest view of the
abbey. It is taken from
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The
Refectory
This was
the dining hall used by the monks for over 300 years and the
entrance is by way of the
cloisters. On the marble lintel above the door can be seen the
sculptured coats of arms of the Lusignan family,
the knights of Jerusalem and the Kingdom of Cyprus. The view
of the interior is shown in fig.12 and the ribvaulted roof with its
six bays is in an excellent state of preservation. Most historians
regard this dining hall as
the finest example of Gothic architectu re in the Middle East More
is the pity that soldiers during the British occupation of Cyprus
used the place for a miniature rifle range and the bullet marks can
be seen all along the eastern wall. What an outcry there would be,
if this were done today?
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Traces of
benches around the walls indicate where the monks sat for meals and
a higher bench along one wall
must have been the high table for the big ''V.I.P 's
of the Abbey, the Abbot and his chief officials. In
the north wall a stairway leads to a ''hanging wall
pulpit" and this is shown in fig.13.
The figures
have been put in because the writer often sees fun-loving tourists
deliver an oration to friend below. Closeby in the pulpit is a stone cupboard where
scripture books were kept for here, during meal hours,
one of the monks recited prayers to those below. Almost the
only lighting is from the rose window on the east wall, so the dimly
lit hall probably kept down the number of complaints about the
meals. The kitchens were outside on the western side but only the
foundations remain.
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THE
CHAPTER HOUSE
From the
eastern side of the cloisters a door leads
to the chapter house where all that remains are the
large marble pillar w hich supported a vaulted roof and
around the walls are stone benches. Here, the abbot and his
near-hierarchy held meetings to plan the duties for the day and do
the administration of the abbey.
Inserting to note are the stone corbels, i.e. the stone
projections which carried the ribs for the vaults, which are
carved with curious sculptured faces, some even
comical. (See fig.20)
THE
CRYPT
Close to
the kitchen, stone steps lead below to the crypt which is a massive
vaulted undercroft, not unlike the pillars of early Norman churches
in England (fig.14). Here, large earthen ware jars containing olive oil, wine and
grain were stored. It is qu ite a spacious area where much food
could be stored in case of island food shortages caused by drought,
plagues of locusts or
wars in the countryside. The Abbey had to be self-sufficient
and no external currency deals went on!
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THE
DORMITORIES
On
the south side of the cloisters a stone staircase leads to the
dormitories where a series of rooms around the quadrangle were the
bedrooms for the monks, perhaps about 20. In each room is a small
stone cupboard where each one could keep his personal belongings.
Looking at fig.15, these rooms were nothing more than cubicles, so
it must have been a hard life without central heating or electric
blankets. What a blessing it would have been for the monks to have a
discotheque and to be roused in the morning by the Beatles' refrain,
'IT'S BEEN A HARD DAY'S NIGHT'T.
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THE ROMAN
SARCOPHAGUS
This
stone coffin now stands outside the cloisters and is a very
conspicuous object in white marble. From the style of sculpture and
ornament it is dated about 200 a.d. which indicates that, long
before the Abbey was built, this was a Roman settlement here of some
sort. To be buried in such an exquisite coffin of
that sort one must have been one of the Roman nobles and one
who probably had a magnificent villa built for himself in Bellapais
in contrast to his "business' in Roman Girne. The white marble
did not come from the marble quarries on the mountain slopes behind
Bellapais, for that rock cannot be carved and sculptured, Little did
these ancient Romans foresee that, hundreds of years later, the
monks would use that coffin as a washing basin. Where were the
monks' ablutions'? Probably close to the kitchens but the
sarcophagus has been moved to its present position.
ROMAN
COLUMN IN THE CHAPTTER HOUSE
This marble column once supported
the roof vaults for the Chapter House and is similar to the four
marble columns to be seen in the Byzantine church within Girne
castle (inside the Venetian tower, close to the entrance). From the sculpture, in the Corinthian sytle, it would be late
Roman, i.e. Byzantine, It is quite likely that before the monastery
times there was a Byzantine basilica here.
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ROMAN
MASON'S MARKS
Gazing
round the walls of the Abbey it is easy to see that many of the
large stone blocks must have come from some former buildings,
Byzantine or Roman. The Romans had no electric drills and it must
have taken a whole day's work to carve out just one stone block and,
to make sure that the mason got money for his job, he would inscribe
his initials or trade mark on the stone. This common practice can be
seen in many Roman ruins in Italy,, Turkey and the Middle East. Best
examples are to be seen in the w alls of the Undercroft fig. 18.
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COATS OF
ARMS
Heraldry
and the wearing of badges was important in the days of old for the
simple reason that when you had your suit of armour on, who was to
know which side you were on? On the lintel above the door to the
Refectory can be seen 3 coats of arms in stone, the knights of
Jerusalem, of the Lusignan family and the socalled king of Cyprus.
The figure crossed were cornmonly used. The Venetian Lion was with
wings and is frequ ently seen around ancient buildings of Magosa
(Famagusta). In the sketch fig.l9 notice the zigzag carving
around the arch, very common in the Norman churches of England and
said by some to have been the origin of the sergeant' s stripes.
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CARVED
CORBELS
A
corbel is an architectural term of a projection of stone or wood
used to support the weight of the stone arches. Here are three
sketches of selected corbels taken from the walls in the cloisters
fig,20 It was common practice to carve these corbels in the shape of
human or animal heads. Two are apparently caricatures of some local
person, while the middle one is probably a ram's head. Stone masons
in building the monastery would take the opportunity to portray some
character in stone to give grotesque appearance. If the stone mason
at the time had a difficult fellow worker or there was a curious
monk or abbot, then his features were sculptured in the stone
corbel. These stone masonls jokes can be often detected in ancient
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THE ROSE
WINDOW
The
light from the east w as very important in mediaeval churches
and become a place where from the bible were expressed in
beautiful stained glass. This was the only place for a stained
window. The example shown in fig.21 is from eastern wall of
the Refectory and in all churches type of window was always
high up to invoke an ever upward gaze!..
 
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TREASURY
CUPBOARD
The Treasury is between the church and the cloisters and is
the place where gold and silver articles were stored. The crusader
knights in the course of their "adventure into Palestine
acquired such wealth and late in life they bequeathed some to the
church in return for prayers being said for them, You can see from
the skecth, fig, 22 that this is a built.in cupboard and it is
curious to realise that it is only in the last 30 years that modern builders revived this mediaeval idea of
the built-in cupboard. When the writer was a boy he remembers these
huge cumbersome Victorian wardrobes, that can still be seen in old
houses in Cyprus. Close examination of the remains of the hinges may
indicate the wrenching done by those Genoese looters in 1500 a.d.
THE
END OF THE ABBEY
The
Chronicles of Middle Ages contain wearisome and boring accounts of
the numerous quarrels between the bishops of' both Latin and
Orthodox churches, and so it is easy to understand how the monastery
declined. Both Genoese and Venetian invaders looted the Abbey while
the latter in 1500 a.d. reported they found the monks living in a
"depraved" manner, many with several wives. In 1571 the
Turks were glad to hand the Abbey over to the Greek Orthodox church.
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PLAN
OF THE BELLAPAİS ABBEY
The plan,
fig.23 shows that the outstanding physical feature of the entire
Abbey is that it was built on a natural high terrace, the scarp of
which faces north to the sea ending with a 30-metre high cliff. The
powerful and copious springs of Bellapais have been following for
hundreds of thousands of years, during which the lime deposit has built up this terrace. This
redeposited lime stone is known as tufa. Who came here first? The
Romans were well known for
their love of running water for their fountains, public baths,
sanitation and wash basins. Rich Roman citizens always liked to live
in some country spot where water flowed all the year round. The
answer for them was Bellapais. So the first settlement was Roman
followed in Byzatine times by a small church.
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