refectory-txt-1

On the north side of the cloisters is the great refectory. This very remarkable hall (about 30 metres long by 10 metres wide) was celebrated even in the middle ages as of unusual magnificence.

It is still well preserved, and even the < pulpit for the reading during meals remains in situ. The kitchen was probably at the west end, but it no longer exists. Beneath the refectory is a beautifully vaulted cellarage in two divisions, the ribbed ceilings supported by octagonal columns with moulded capitals.

The Refectory of a medieval monastery was, after the church, the most important portion of the group of buildings; some times it is even larger than the church as in the present case of Bella Paise. (France is the birthplace of these vast halls vaulted in stone, which the monastic architects of the XIIIth century have made their speciality. According to Viollet-le-Duc the largest of these very extraordinary constructions was the refectory of the Royal Abbey of' Poissy, which survived into the XIXth century. It measured 47 metres by 12 metres, and was nearly 20 metres high to the keystones of the vaulting. Like Bella Paise this was a building of a single nave. Several other splendid examples of this class of construction existed in Paris, and the best known survivor is the refectory of the suppressed monastery of St. Martin-des-Champs, a building still covering as vast a space as the Poissy example, but constructed in two aisles, with a row of seven piers in the middle to support the vaulting.)

The refectory of a medieval monastery like everything about such an institution was always planned with a certain attention to ritual, and the regulation of the daily life of the monks; the arrangement of the tables, the means of service, etc., are laid down in the famous plan of the Abbey of St. Gall. The refectory of Bella Paise is planned in relation with other parts of the Abbey in a way which corresponds very closely with this far older example: the kitchen now destroyed was at the end opposite the high table of the Abbot and dignitaries, the wall pulpit is opposite the entrances from the cloister, and the buffet or serving cupboard still exists in the wall close to the kitchen entrance. According to the St. Gall plan the Abbot's table was placed in the centre of one end of the hall with monks' tables against the wall on either hand; in the exact centre of the refectory was the table for the visitors to the Abbey; at the end nearest the kitchen sat the lay brothers and servants.

Against the walls of the Cypriot refectory there are the remains of a wall seat; at the east end this feature rises to a higher level and suggests the presence of a dais for the high-table. The paving of the refectory has entirely disappeared, stolen long since for use in the modern village houses; under each window on the north side is a drain hole, evidently for purposes of washing the floor after meals.

The doors and windows of the refectory were doubtless fitted with wood shutters, but there is no evidence of any glass frames or saddle-bars if the windows were glazed; in all probability they were not.

The singularly well preserved wall pulpit of the refectory, used for the reading of books by one of the monks during midday and evening meals, deserves a special mention. As M. Enlart remarks in his description of this feature, it is but a very poor example of such a design when compared with the finely carved specimens surviving in St. Martin-des-Champs, Paris, or in Beaulieu, Hampshire, but still there is a certain originality about it worthy of attention.

English monastic ruins display few examples of great vaulted areas such as the refectory of Bella Paise. The largest monastic refectory in England was probably that of the Dominicans or 'Blackfriars', London, afterwards converted into the Parliament Chamber of Henry VIII, and a century later into the famous 'Blackfriars Theatre'. Such refectories were often of a very suitable size and form for many uses of a public nature. The refectory of Bella Paise has been used as the village school; as a prison, to judge by inscriptions remaining on the walls; and since the period of the British Occupation of Cyprus it was for some time made use of as a hospital.

Bella Paise Abbey is a perfectly unique monument of its kind in the Levant: a monument of types of art which are only poorly imitated in the little native churches. As already remarked the monastic buildings of the early XVth century resemble Spanish or Provencal work, but the church of the XIVth century has, perhaps, a greater affinity with northern French architecture. The same crocket-capitals, depressed arches with roll and hollow mouldings, and more especially the overhung and deeply cut bases of the "early French" style are very noticeable in the doorways and windows. Another peculiarity of North European Gothic is the use of the same architectural details in nookshafts, arches, etc., both inside and outside the windows. The east end of the church is square with three single-light windows, a design closely resembling many an English church of contemporary date.

[ 1 ] In 1912 and 1913, extensive repairs and clearing away of debris and earth from the cloister court, etc., took place under the supervision of the Curator of Ancient Monuments (George Jeffery). The great refectory was supported at its west end where, owing to the removal of the monastic buildings on this side, a serious settlement had taken place threatening the general ruin of the great hall. The walls were underpinned, and two immense buttresses (now gone) were built against the tottering portion, on one was inscribed:

ABBATIVM PRAEMONSTRATENSE ANNO SALVTIS MCC. AB HVGONE IV REGE REAEDIFICATVM MCCCLIX. A CVRATORE MON. ANT. E SVMPTIBVS AERARII CYPRI RESTITVTVM ANNO MCMXIL. (translation to follow)

[ 2 ] The refectory of the Abbey of Mont St. Michel in Normandy ('Le Merveille' as it has been called in all ages), and its remarkable position in mid air, suggests a close comparison with the refectory of Bella Paise; but the Norman example is a double aisle building, and its construction on the edge of a precipice is not perhaps so hazardous owing to a smaller thrust in the narrower vaulting. In both cases the north wall with its vaulting shafts is supported by buttresses eighty or a hundred feet in height. In both cases the highly scientific character of the construction is proved by its endurance through so many centuries of absolute neglect, at least in Cyprus, if not in France.


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		A building of unusual magnificence... THE GREAT REFECTORY
On the north side of the cloisters is the great refectory. This very remarkable hall (about 30 metres long by 10 metres wide) was celebrated even in the middle ages as of unusual magnificence. It is still well preserved, and even the < pulpit for the reading during meals remains in situ. The kitchen was probably at the west end, but it no longer exists. Beneath the refectory is a beautifully vaulted cellarage in two divisions, the ribbed ceilings supported by octagonal columns with moulded capitals. The Refectory of a medieval monastery was, after the church, the most important portion of the group of buildings; some times it is even larger than the church as in the present case of Bella Paise. (France is the birthplace of these vast halls vaulted in stone, which the monastic architects of the XIIIth century have made their speciality. According to Viollet-le-Duc the largest of these very extraordinary constructions was the refectory of the Royal Abbey of' Poissy, which survived into the XIXth century. It measured 47 metres by 12 metres, and was nearly 20 metres high to the keystones of the vaulting. Like Bella Paise this was a building of a single nave. Several other splendid examples of this class of construction existed in Paris, and the best known survivor is the refectory of the suppressed monastery of St. Martin-des-Champs, a building still covering as vast a space as the Poissy example, but constructed in two aisles, with a row of seven piers in the middle to support the vaulting.) The refectory of a medieval monastery like everything about such an institution was always planned with a certain attention to ritual, and the regulation of the daily life of the monks; the arrangement of the tables, the means of service, etc., are laid down in the famous plan of the Abbey of St. Gall. The refectory of Bella Paise is planned in relation with other parts of the Abbey in a way which corresponds very closely with this far older example: the kitchen now destroyed was at the end opposite the high table of the Abbot and dignitaries, the wall pulpit is opposite the entrances from the cloister, and the buffet or serving cupboard still exists in the wall close to the kitchen entrance. According to the St. Gall plan the Abbot's table was placed in the centre of one end of the hall with monks' tables against the wall on either hand; in the exact centre of the refectory was the table for the visitors to the Abbey; at the end nearest the kitchen sat the lay brothers and servants. Against the walls of the Cypriot refectory there are the remains of a wall seat; at the east end this feature rises to a higher level and suggests the presence of a dais for the high-table. The paving of the refectory has entirely disappeared, stolen long since for use in the modern village houses; under each window on the north side is a drain hole, evidently for purposes of washing the floor after meals. The doors and windows of the refectory were doubtless fitted with wood shutters, but there is no evidence of any glass frames or saddle-bars if the windows were glazed; in all probability they were not. The singularly well preserved wall pulpit of the refectory, used for the reading of books by one of the monks during midday and evening meals, deserves a special mention. As M. Enlart remarks in his description of this feature, it is but a very poor example of such a design when compared with the finely carved specimens surviving in St. Martin-des-Champs, Paris, or in Beaulieu, Hampshire, but still there is a certain originality about it worthy of attention. English monastic ruins display few examples of great vaulted areas such as the refectory of Bella Paise. The largest monastic refectory in England was probably that of the Dominicans or 'Blackfriars', London, afterwards converted into the Parliament Chamber of Henry VIII, and a century later into the famous 'Blackfriars Theatre'. Such refectories were often of a very suitable size and form for many uses of a public nature. The refectory of Bella Paise has been used as the village school; as a prison, to judge by inscriptions remaining on the walls; and since the period of the British Occupation of Cyprus it was for some time made use of as a hospital. Bella Paise Abbey is a perfectly unique monument of its kind in the Levant: a monument of types of art which are only poorly imitated in the little native churches. As already remarked the monastic buildings of the early XVth century resemble Spanish or Provencal work, but the church of the XIVth century has, perhaps, a greater affinity with northern French architecture. The same crocket-capitals, depressed arches with roll and hollow mouldings, and more especially the overhung and deeply cut bases of the "early French" style are very noticeable in the doorways and windows. Another peculiarity of North European Gothic is the use of the same architectural details in nookshafts, arches, etc., both inside and outside the windows. The east end of the church is square with three single-light windows, a design closely resembling many an English church of contemporary date. [ 1 ] In 1912 and 1913, extensive repairs and clearing away of debris and earth from the cloister court, etc., took place under the supervision of the Curator of Ancient Monuments (George Jeffery). The great refectory was supported at its west end where, owing to the removal of the monastic buildings on this side, a serious settlement had taken place threatening the general ruin of the great hall. The walls were underpinned, and two immense buttresses (now gone) were built against the tottering portion, on one was inscribed: ABBATIVM PRAEMONSTRATENSE ANNO SALVTIS MCC. AB HVGONE IV REGE REAEDIFICATVM MCCCLIX. A CVRATORE MON. ANT. E SVMPTIBVS AERARII CYPRI RESTITVTVM ANNO MCMXIL. (translation to follow) [ 2 ] The refectory of the Abbey of Mont St. Michel in Normandy ('Le Merveille' as it has been called in all ages), and its remarkable position in mid air, suggests a close comparison with the refectory of Bella Paise; but the Norman example is a double aisle building, and its construction on the edge of a precipice is not perhaps so hazardous owing to a smaller thrust in the narrower vaulting. In both cases the north wall with its vaulting shafts is supported by buttresses eighty or a hundred feet in height. In both cases the highly scientific character of the construction is proved by its endurance through so many centuries of absolute neglect, at least in Cyprus, if not in France.

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