SAINT HILARION CASTLE

After the death of St. Hilarion in a cave on the mountain in the 10th century the Byzantines built a church and monastery here carrying his name. Along with Kantara and Buff Vento, St. Hilarion Castle was originally built as a watch tower to give warning of approaching Arab pirates who launched a continuous series of raids on Cyprus and the coasts of Anatolia from the 7th to the 10th centuries.

 Some 400 years after it was first built, the castle became a place of refuge and also a summer residence for the Lusignan. When the Venetians captured Cyprus 1489, they relied on Kyrenia, Nicosia and Famagusta for the defence of the island and St. Hilarion was neglected and fell into oblivion. The castle consisted of three wards on different altitudes, each with its cisterns and storage rooms.

The first and lowest of these was used to accommodate the garrison and horses. It began with a barbican and its main gate and other walls, which are reinforced by horseshoe-shaped towers, were built originally by the Byzantines in the 11th century. The ruins of the stables where the animals were kept and the water cisterns an invaluable water source during the long medieval sieges- has survived to the present day.

The entrance of the main gateway of the middle castle, which consisted of a church, Belvedere barrack rooms and a four-storey royal apartment, was closed with a drawbridge. From the church of St. Hilarion its apse has survived. The refectory which served as the - dining hall for the Lusignan nobles is the largest room of the surviving ruins. When the weather is clear enough, Kyrenia range and the Mediterranean and even the snow-capped Taurus Mountains of Anatolia some 100 km North are visible.

Beyond the royal apartments there is a large water tank to collect the winter rain. After a steep windy climb access to the upper castle is gained by a Lusignan archway guarded by a tower. The courtyard of the upper castle rests under the natural protection of the twin summits, some 730 m above the sea. These two peaks have given the mountain its first name Didymos (Greek for "twin"), and from which the Crusaders derived the corrupted name of Dieu d'Amour.

Two cisterns sunk into the rocky courtyard supplied water to the upper castle. The rooms on the east side served as kitchens and waiting rooms. The royal apartments occupied the western side of the Courtyard. From the gallery, which was originally on a basement, two Gothic tracery windows, one with two stone windows seats on either side, and thus known as the "Queen's Window", have survived.

 The window offers a beautiful view of the village of Karmi. A set of rough steps leads to the uppermost section of the castle known as the Tower of Prince John. Tradition has it that Prince John of Antioch; having been convinced that they were plotting against him threw his Bulgarian bodyguards to their death.