Bellapais (Greek Μπελλαπάϊς, Tur. Bellabayıs) is a small village under the control of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, four miles from the city of Kyrenia.

The pearl of the village is the Bellapais Abbey, begun in 1198-1205 and enlarged in the 13th century by the Premonstratensian monks. From the height of the ruins, you can see Kyrenia and the Mediterranean Sea.

In the village lived for several years, settling in 1952, the English writer Lawrence Durrell, who earned his living by teaching English. But a year after his arrival, a war began between the Greek Cypriots, who longed for reunification with mainland Greece, the Turkish Cypriots, who fought for independence, and the British, who sought to control the island. Darrell at this time leaves teaching and works as a public relations officer in Nicosia. The book Bitter Lemons (eng. Bitter Lemons, 1957) is Darrell’s vision of the events of those tragic years.