 View to the summit tower | ||
| St. Hilarion | ||
| District | Kyrenia | |
|---|---|---|
| height | 622 m | |
no tourist info on Wikidata:  | ||
| location | ||
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St. Hilarion is a ruined castle in Northern Cyprus, 20 km southwest of Kyrenia
background
The castle offers an impressive sight with its three tower-reinforced fortress rings. When the weather is good, from above you have a wonderful view not only of Kyrenia and the Mediterranean Sea with most of the Cypriot north coast, but also of Nicosia in the center of the island. The castle has dominated the pass road between Kyrenia and Nicosia since ancient times.
history
Abstract: The hermit St. Hilarius spent his old age in the 6th century in a cave in the Pentadactylos Mountains. He was the namesake of one in the 9th / 10th. The monastery was built in the 18th century and was probably incorporated into the fortress around 1000. The Byzantine chapel from the 10th / 11th centuries Century, today a ruin, can be attributed to the monastery. Around 1220 the castle was expanded by Johann von Ibelin, the guardian of the Franconian-Cypriot King Henri I. From 1232 the castle became a summer residence for the Lusignans. The fortifications were given new towers made of larger blocks at strategic points. The fortress was expanded one last time around 1391. From 1540 the fortifications of Nicosia, Kyrenia and Ammochostos (Famagusta) were renewed by the Venetians, while the Byzantine or Lusignan mountain fortresses of Buffavento, St. Hilarion and Kantara as well as the port fortifications in Paphos and Limassol were razed.
getting there
The castle complex can be reached from Nicosia or from Kyrenia via the pass road "Nicosia-Kyrenia Motorway". The turnoff to the castle is 31 km from Nicosia and 7 km from Kyrenia. The winding, narrow road to the entrance area of the castle with restaurant and souvenir shops is 4 km, which can be covered by car in about 5 minutes. Part of the route is in a restricted military area, but it is not controlled. If you can't find a parking space for your vehicle near the castle entrance, you can drive back until you find what you are looking for on the side of the road or in a large parking lot.
mobility
The facility can only be explored on foot. For this you need medium to good physical fitness to enter the upper castle. The area is not suitable for wheelchairs.
Tourist Attractions
The enormous complex is surrounded by three wall rings that divide it into a lower, middle and upper area.
- You enter the facility through an entrance (1) right next to the ticket counter and find yourself in a kind of kennel. On the left you can see a tower, further to the right the main entrance to the lower fortress district, the outer bailey, where stables (15), storage rooms and water cisterns (16) were housed. The remains of the building still visible here date from the 14th century.
- The steep path leads to another archway (5) directly into the middle area, the lower castle. This access was originally secured by a drawbridge. 40 m further to the right is the Byzantine chapel (14), accessible via a steep staircase. The chapel, which is now roofless, dates from the 10th and 11th. Century and still contains recognizable wall paintings.
- Right behind the chapel is the "Belvedere" (12), from which you have a very nice view of the southeastern landscape.
- Adjacent to the Belvedere is the former kitchen (13) and the pantry (13), which suggests that the Belvedere could also have served as a dining room. Behind the pantry, on the outer wall of the castle, are the medieval toilets (above sea level).
- In the area of the lower castle there is also a restored large hall (11), the former refectory. There is also a small cfé here, where you can also buy souvenirs. There is also a large cistern carved into the rock (16), opposite the hall are the ruins of a former kitchen wing (n.N.) for the guards, the captain's room (n.d.) and the staff's bedrooms (10).
- In the lower castle is also the somewhat squat St.-Johannes-Turm (4), next to the summit in the upper castle (732 m) the highest point of the castle complex. It is surrounded on three sides by steeply sloping terrain, around which the story revolves that in 1373 Prince John of Antioch pushed a group of greedy Bulgarians suspected of killing him through the window after he let them come into his room one by one.
- A steep zigzag path leads to the highest part of the castle, the upper castle, in the lower area past the large cistern. You enter the upper castle through a well-preserved archway (6) from the Byzantine era. 15 m further to the right is a Byzantine tower (above sea level), behind it the kitchen wing (7) of the upper castle.
- To the west of the kitchen wing there are three more subordinate buildings (remains) and a cistern, all from the Byzantine period, expanded in the 14th century.
- The royal apartments (8), about 8 x 30 m in size, are located at the western end of the site, about 40 m north-west from the mountain peak (9) about 40 m higher. Here the visitor will also find the popular photo motif of the "Queen's Window".
- To the south of it, an approximately 80 m long castle wall stretches horizontally from the west tower towards the east until it meets the castle wall (17) coming from below.
Practical advice
Visiting times:
- April to October: 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., closes at 6:30 p.m.
- November to March: 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., closes at 3:30 p.m., Thursday 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Due to the risk of fire, smoking is strictly prohibited on the entire site.
