By Esha Bajaj
Ballapais, a small village in the Kyrenia District of Northern Cyprus, is best known for the Bellapais Abbey, also known as the Abbey of Peace. It was built in the 13th century by the canons regular of the Premonstratensian order, and although it is in ruins today, its beauty remains immortalized in both the magnificent, adorned arches which line it, as well as the view from the top, which canvases the Kyrenia district and the Mediterranean sea. Monastic buildings surround the monument on the north side, an extremely significant feature, for in Britain, these buildings would have appeared on the south side.
This anomaly illustrates the impact Cyprus had on its conquerors, for instead of following convention and erecting the Monastic buildings on the south side, the climate of the island nation demanded they be placed on the north in order to allow the residents of the buildings access to the cool breezes of the north in the midst of the hot Mediterranean climate of Cyprus.
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