it Turns out, and in Cyprus there are creepy places where you can walk and look at modern ruins.
the Story will be about hotel "Berengaria", which is empty since 1984.
the Most interesting thing in the book with an overview of interesting places in Cyprus we have not seen this hotel. We stumbled on it by accident, when he went to the monastery "Kykkos", I wrote about it previously.
Well, may, heat, stopped at a store to buy ice cream, and there is a building that is impossible not to notice. On the background of the village houses is the real "Titanic".
Kind of creepy, it is clear that the building was clearly abandoned, so we went to stick to local with questions.
Berengaria Hotel.
In 1927 a local businessman got the idea of the construction of a luxury hotel. At first thing went wrong, then do not put the desired metal structure, the building began to crack during the construction phase. Had to put a lot of effort tinkering with the design, but in 1931, the hotel "Berengaria" opened its doors for the first visitors.
"Berengaria" - the first large hotel in Cyprus. At that time, recreation in the mountains has gained popularity among the British. Therefore, the construction paid off quickly. 50-70 years - the real Golden years of life hotel. Rich Europeans prefer to enjoy the mountain coolness than to bask in the sultry beaches of the island. A swim in the pool, 1931, he was huge. And the view from the hotel offers. In General, some pluses.
it was visited by the king of Egypt Farouk I, the Prime Minister of great Britain Winston Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, and the first President of Israel, Chaim Weizmann even lived there for some time and from there ruled his country.
Where the name?
the hotel is Named in honor of Berengaria of Navarre, wife of king of England Richard the Lionheart.
In 1191, during the third crusade, because of the strong storm, King Richard and his bride, the Princess Berengaria, had to make a stop on the island of Cyprus. And 12 may 1191 king Richard and Berengaria were married in Limassol castle, which survived until our days.
of Course, the Cypriots love the days when he composed a beautiful legend, hence the name, in honor of the beautiful Berengaria.
I will Continue the story about the hotel itself.
the owner of the hotel Ioannis Kokkalas had 3 sons. Naturally he wanted that after his death, the hotel will live with the same greatness, and will manage a friendly team of his sons.
But after his father's death, the children were more keen on division of property, and the management of the hotel and no one even thought. According to one legend, the Ghost of the father was so unhappy with the state of Affairs that has cursed the sons and they in turn died under mysterious circumstances. Senior drowned in the pool, the average was hung up in the restaurant, and the younger shot himself, and all the deaths in the same hotel. Manage the hotel there was nobody and 1984, the doors were closed to visitors.
the Second legend says that the ghosts of those sons still roam the hotel. And sometimes, you can hear the swearing over money among his sons
Local made everything that can be useful on the farm, so away were some crumbling walls.
by the Way, another legend. Those who stole something from the hotel, the ghosts of the brothers will not be left alone until they return the stolen. Of course, some people attribute normal everyday failures with this curse and return the property back. Nearby stands a small house, where people bring stolen goods. But the house is emptied periodically by tourists who take something for memory. So ghosts, with their threats have to travel around the world.
In 2012, the German company decided to give the hotel a second life. But the work stopped is not known and start again.
unfortunately, we do not know about this hotel in advance. Local we so intimidated by the stories about the collapsing building, ghosts, and impassable road that we in the hotel itself were not included. As it turns out, anything is possible. So, the next time will definitely include this hotel in the list of mandatory places to visit on the island of Cyprus.
How to find the hotel.
Track B8 from Limassol to Troodos
the Village of Prodromos.
Coordinates are 34° 57' 00.6"N 32° 49' 48.1"E