Castles & Palaces
Kolossi Castle surrounded by the Cypriot countryside

5 historic sites

Castles in Cyprus

The crossroads of the Mediterranean, Cyprus preserves a remarkable legacy of Crusader castles, Byzantine fortresses, and medieval city walls shaped by Richard the Lionheart, the Knights Hospitaller, and Venetian rulers.

Kolossi Crusader Castle golden limestone tower rising from citrus groves in Cyprus

cyprus · Limassol District

Kolossi Castle

The Crusader keep of the Knights Hospitaller — birthplace of Commandaria, the world's oldest named wine

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Kyrenia Castle (Girne Kalesi) — the Venetian-era harbour fortress enclosing the horseshoe harbour of Kyrenia (Girne) in Northern Cyprus, with the Kyrenia Mountains rising behind the town

cyprus · Kyrenia (Girne) District, Northern Cyprus

Kyrenia Castle

A 4th-century BC shipwreck inside a Venetian-Crusader harbour fortress — Kyrenia contains the oldest seagoing vessel ever recovered from the Mediterranean

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St. Hilarion Castle's ruins cascading down a 732-metre ridge in the Kyrenia Mountains, northern Cyprus

cyprus · Kyrenia District / Northern Cyprus

St. Hilarion Castle

Cyprus's fairy-tale mountain ruin — a Crusader castle at 732 metres said to have inspired Disney's Snow White

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Limassol Medieval Castle in the old town of Limassol, Cyprus

cyprus · Limassol District

Limassol Medieval Castle

Where Richard the Lionheart married Berengaria of Navarre on the way to the Crusades

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Othello Castle — the Lusignan sea-gate fortress in the walled city of Famagusta, Northern Cyprus, with the Lion of St Mark Venetian relief above the main entrance and the rounded artillery-era towers rebuilt in 1492

cyprus · Famagusta, Northern Cyprus (TRNC)

Othello Castle

The Venetian sea-gate that gave Shakespeare his setting — the Lion of St Mark is still above the door, and the ghost quarter of Varosha is visible from the ramparts

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