Bank of Cyprus, which owns the empty Berengaria Hotel in Prodromos, will put it up for auction. The starting price of this "haunted hotel" and its 87-year history is 2.36 million euros. The auction will take place on September 11 in Nicosia. Four years ago, the then owner of Berengaria, Michalis Ioannidis, claimed that up to 200 tourists roam the hotel on weekends. People are attracted by legends and rumors of ghosts that float around the hotel halls and corridors at night. He tried to block access to the hotel with the help of a fence, posters with the words "No entry", police tapes and boarded up windows, but experienced tourists cannot be fooled by chaff.
HOTEL INHABITS: PAST AND PRESENT
Recall that the hotel was named after Berengaria of Navarre, the wife of the English king Richard the Lionheart. She became a prisoner of the first emperor of Cyprus, Isaac Comnenus, the groom recaptured her and annexed the island to his possessions. The wedding of the couple took place in Limassol in 1191. This was the only case in history when the king of England got married outside of Foggy Albion.
The marriage of Richard and Berengaria was childless - they spent very little time together, since Richard was much more interested in military victories. The English chronicler Richard Devaysky wrote that Berengaria was more intelligent than beautiful. It was a marriage of convenience - it brought strategically important fortresses to the king, ensured the security of the southern borders of his French possessions, and saved Richard from having to marry Alice of Vexenskaya.
The hotel in honor of Berengaria was opened in 1931. At first, the Cypriot nobility and representatives of the British colonial administration rested there, and after Cyprus gained independence in 1960, more and more high-ranking officials and businessmen. Among the guests of the hotel were President Makarios and King Farouk of Egypt. In the days of Berengaria's prosperity, regular rooms cost five pounds a day, and suites cost 10. These were impressive sums for those days.
Due to the development of sea tourism, the mountain hotel fell into disrepair and was closed in 1984. In the 90s of the last century, beds filled with dusty bed linen, crockery and cutlery with the hotel logo, as well as furniture could still be seen in hotel rooms. Now there are only bare walls and an empty pool.
Among the ghosts that inhabit the Berengaria Hotel, there is a former hotel manager who committed suicide and now allegedly wanders at night in search of victims. There is also talk of the merchant's wife, who was found dead in the pool. Now she is looking for her killer to take revenge on him. "Lives" in an empty hotel and a girl in white with black hair like a raven's wing. You can see her silhouette bent over the window only in the darkest time of the day.
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THREE BROTHERS FURTED OVER MONEY AND ALL DIED
The Forbes magazine compiled a guide to nine abandoned buildings around the world, where you can not only admire the picturesque ruins, but also, according to local legends, meet ghosts. Here's what The Forbes writes about Berengaria:
“The hotel, which opened its doors in the 1930s, was intended for wealthy tourists and was very profitable. His sad fate was determined by the death of the owner, who bequeathed the management of the family business to his sons. At first, the three men tried to follow the instructions of their father, who, dying, demanded that they work together and share the proceeds equally.
However, over time, quarrels over money began to flare up between them more and more often. It all ended with the fact that the young owners of the hotel died one after another under unclear circumstances. There was no one to continue their work. The huge building quickly fell into disrepair, and the residents of the surrounding villages stole valuables - they just claim that the ghosts of greedy brothers settled on the ruins of the hotel."