Bellapais Abbey (also spelled Bellapaïs[1]) is the ruin of a monastery built by Canons Regular in the 13th century on the northern side of the small village of Bellapais, now in Turkish-controlled Northern Cyprus a breakaway state which is recognised only by Turkey in an area legally belonging to the Republic of Cyprus, about five kilometres from the town of Kyrenia.

The site was formerly named Episcopia or Piscopia,[1] suggesting that it may have served the Bishop of Kyrenia as a residence, and as a place of refuge from Arab raids in the 7th and 8th centuries.

The first occupants known to have settled on or near the site were the Canons Regular of the Holy Sepulchre, who had fled Jerusalem after its fall in 1187 to Saladin.

[1] The common explanation of the modern name Bellapais is that the French name Abbaye de la Paix ("Abbey of Peace") was corrupted after the Italian takeover into "Bellapais", reinterpreted as Bella Paese "Beautiful Land".

[1] Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich says that this was the ancient Jewish village of "Mallep," visited by Jesus Christ.

In Britain these would normally be built on the south side of the church to shelter 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 the lay of the land dictated position.

The Abbey's main entrance is through a fortified gate on the south side, with a tower that is a later addition, and a forecourt.

The surviving decorations include an intricately carved pulpit, the bishop's throne, and five chandeliers.

The room is 30m long and 10m wide, with seven columns that extend from the side walls to support the roof.

While the canons ate their meals, a lector in the pulpit would read to them from the scriptures or the lives of the saints.

The chapter house functioned as the abbey's administrative office, and the undercroft contained workrooms.

On the south side of the cloister there is a pair of stairs that lead to the abbey's treasury room, which is in the northwest corner of the monastery.