St Hilarion

The castle of St Hilarion "grows" almost organically from the peak of the mountain overlooking the main pass from Nicosia to Kyrenia. A real fairy-tale castle, and supposedly the inspiration for Walt Disney's castle in Snow White.

St Hilarion has a layered history. The St Hilarion of the name was originally a hermit seeking solitude in a cave nearby. In Byzantine times a monastery venerating the saint was built. Later fortified this became the castle of Didymos (or twins) from the twin peaks of the mountain.

Long used as a watch tower (along with Kantara and Buffavento) to give warning of Arab raids,  St Hilarion was added to and improved on numerous occasions. It reached its heyday during Lusignan times, when the Lusignan kings used the castle as a summer residence. The royal apartments are right at the top of the castle. The area in front and below the castle was leveled for the knights to joust on. 

The castle fell into disrepair after the Venetians took the island as they concentrated their defensive efforts in the ports and Nicosia. They partially dismantled the castle for stone for their own defensive works.

The castle is a stunning piece of medieval and Gothic architecture, and the long scramble up to the Royal apartments is well worth it for the views over the north coastal strip.     

Buffavento

First built in Byzantine times as a simple watchtower, with later improvements by the Lusignans,  Buffavento castle has probably the most dramatic setting of all the mountain-top castles on the island. Perched precariously 940m high on a crag there are superb views, and although the castle itself isn't as impressive as St Hilarion or Kantara the views are worth the climb.

Buffavento is the most difficult of the castles to get to, involving a  fairly steep climb taking at least a half hour. Should you choose not to take the car to the top car park along a pretty rough road then be prepared for a hike of about 2½ hours.       

Kantara

Kantara is the easternmost of the Crusaders castles. Built on the foothills of the Kyrenia range at the base of the Karpas peninsula the castle overlooks both the north coast and the Bay of Famagusta. At only 700m high it lacks the fairy-tale setting of St Hilarion or Buffavento, but suffered least from the hands of the Venetians and is the best preserved of the three. The views over the coast and along the Kyrenia mountain range make this a worthwhile visit.   

       View from St Hilarion

View from St Hilarion