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Ruins of chapter house and common room...
DORMITORY DEVASTATED
On the east side of the cloister stand
the ruins of the commonroom and chapter house, with the dormitory for
the monks above. This portion is unfortunately completely devastated.
The division of the dormitory into separate cells is still traceable
by the arrangement of the windows and the small wall cupboards. At the
south end of the dormitory a staircase leads down to the north entrance
of the church for the use of the monks at the nocturnal services. (*)
The
chapter house is of a square plan with a central pillar, the carved
corbels for vaulting ribs remaining in the walls are particularly interesting
examples of XVth century (Flamboyant, or 'Sicilian' Gothic) carving.
The French Salle Capitulaire or Chapter House seems to have usually
been square on plan (see Viollet-le-Duc, and Villard de Honnecourt's
Album), and not of that detached character which was common in England.
At Bella Paise its position underneath the Dormitory is, perhaps, somewhat
unusual. Villard de Honnecourt's plan for a Chapter House is almost
identical with the example in Cyprus.
In removing the debris of the ruined dormitory and chapter house in
1912 the central support of the vaulting in the latter, consisting of
a marble column and capital, came to light. The capital is a curious
version of 'Corinthian' evidently the work of an European artist. On
top of the capital is a rather unusual springing stone or cornice decorated
with XIVth century crockets. The huge stone forming the main springer
also survives.
The stone seat for the monks survived around a great part of the Chapter
House.
(*) This portion was completely
mined when Capt. Kinnear wrote of it in 1814.
