Saint Hilarion Castle, Northern Cyprus Perched high in the Kyrenia mountain range, overlooking the Mediterranean and the surrounding areas of North Cyprus, stands the castle of St Hilarion. Reputedly the inspiration for Walt Disney's 'Sleeping Beauty', the castle remains one of the best preserved of all the Crusader Castles, thanks mainly to the work of the North Cyprus Antiquities Department. The castle offers many opportunities for both those with an interest in history and those seeking spectacular views - on a clear day you can see all the way to the Turkish mainland!. Stout shoes are essential and especially in the hotter months, visitors should carry plenty of refreshments with them!

The castle is named after St. Hilarion, a hermit monk who fled from persecution in the Holy Land and lived and died in a cave on the mountains. Later in the 10th century the Byzantines built a church and monastery here. Along with Kantara and Buffavento castles, St. Hilarion was originally built as a watch tower to give warning of approaching pirates who launched a continuous series of raids on Cyprus and the coasts of Anatolia. Although the monastery and a church were built here originally, the first references to the castle are found in 1191 records. For some time it remained of strategic importance, but later it became the summer resort of the Lusignan nobility.

The castle has three parts. The parapets for the defense of the main entrance were fortified by the Byzantines in the 11th century with the lower section of the castle being used for billeting soldiers and their horses. The middle section contained the royal palace, the kitchen, the church and a big cistern. At the entrance to the castle in the upper section there is a Lusignan Gate with a courtyard in the middle. The panoramic view of Northern Cyprus from the Queen’s window (a window carved in the Gothic style) on the second floor of the royal apartments is superb and well worth the climb! When the Venetians captured Cyprus in 1489, they relied on Kyrenia, Nicosia and Famagusta for the defense of the island and St. Hilarion was neglected and fell into oblivion. In its main outline and arrangement the castle remains as the Byzantines built it, but many sections in their present form are Frankish and the work of those who rebuilt and improved the castle under the rule of the Lusignan kings. There are three divisions: the lower ward, occupying the southward slope below the summit; the middle ward (the main section on the eastward shoulder) and the upper ward, between the twin crests of the summit. The outer gate, beside which stands the restored gate-house, leads into the Barbican, a small outbuilding protecting the main entrance.

Within this entrance stands the re roofed inner gate-house, now the Custodian's office. The lower ward is the largest section, where the men-at-arms and animals were quartered, but it lacks any important buildings. A long Byzantine-built wall encircles it and climbs to close with the defenses on the summit. It has seven semi-circular towers, in one of which quarters have been provided for the Custodian. From the Custodian's tower to that next to the west, the parapet walk along the battlements has been put in order and the large cistern built against it is again in use today. Near the south-west corner of the lower ward, the path passes the original stables, a vaulted Frankish building entered by an archway high enough for a mounted knight. In the nearby corner-tower, two of the wooden floors have been restored to indicate the original subdivision into three storeys: a store below and two upper levels, each with loop-holes towards the exterior and a pair of arches opening inwards into the lower ward. The Middle Ward is reached through a further massive Gate House, a Byzantine construction within which the following Lusignan masons built a vaulted passage in cut stone. The arches on the east side were reconstructed in 1959 in order to support the vaulted roof to prevent its collapse a narthex to the west and an annex to the north of it are likewise constructed in the Byzantine manner.

The church and its annexes, which far exceed the needs of a normal castle chapel, suggest that the first substantial structure on the site was a monastery. The existence of ready-made accommodation would explain the choice of this site for a castle, for which in some respects it is actually ill-suited. The church, however, is an inexpert example of its type, which is represented elsewhere in Cyprus at the Antiphonitis monastery near Ayios Amvoios, and must be relatively early in date, though probably no earlier than 965.A.D. Traces of two paintings survive on the south wall, the second of 12th century style, perhaps dating from some restoration of the church after the Byzantines had converted the monastery into a castle. The buildings to the south of the church have for the most part fallen. North of the church steps lead down to a vaulted passage of Frankish construction separating it from the hall, rebuilt in the 14th century, but now lacking its steep wood-and-tile roof and also the floor which divided it from the cellars below. Some earlier masonry surviving in the end walls suggests that a similar hall existed in the Byzantine castle. Possibly this earlier hall originally served as the refectory for the monastery. The same passage leads into the 'belvedere', a vaulted space commanding fine views through its open arch-ways. This and the vaulted kitchen block to the east of the hall, date in their present form from the period of Lusignan occupation. What is assumed to be a buttery, between the hall and the kitchen, is of somewhat more primitive construction and had a terrace roof supported by rafters carried on transverse arches.

From the kitchen there are two alternative routes. The visitor with little time to spare should descend the wooden steps leading down to a terrace outside the cellars of the hall, from which the main route to the top of the castle is regained. For the longer route, return to the Belvedere and follow the stone steps and passage which lead down, under the kitchen into the buildings occupying the eastern extremity of the middle a building of importance. It probably housed the royal apartments in the 13th century before the more spacious quarters in the upper ward were build. Later repairs included the addition of a step-pitch tiled roof, of which the east gable survives, the modern steps at the east end of this building lead up to a terrace, the most easterly point in the castle, commanding a wide panorama of Northern Cyprus and the Mediterranean beyond. Descending to the basement level, a row of massive vaulted chambers is reached , Frankish 14th century work, probably barrack accommodation. In a small yard to the east are the remains of a kiln in which roof-tiles were probably made. Ascending the long flight of stone steps and passing on the right the remains of buildings constructed on top of the vaulted barracks, the direct route to the top of the castle is rejoined. At the exit from the middle ward was a gate. Outside it, a postern and an enormous open tank, both of Frankish construction, complete the features of this main section of the castle. The tank served to store winter rainfall from the natural catchment area above, for building and other requirements in the summer months. The tank stands at the bottom of the gully up which a zigzag path climbs to the Upper Ward. The entrance is through a Frankish arch set in a rougher, Byzantine wall and protected by a tower similar to those found in the lower ward. The courtyard within is flanked by the twin crests of the Kyrenia mountain range forming the summit. At the east end are service buildings of Frankish date, including a kitchen still bearing the remains of an oven.

On the west the courtyard is closed by the Royal Apartments, a fine, but damaged Lusignan building of the 14th century. A passage, which leads below it to a postern and a cistern occupy the basement level. From the vaulted hall on the ground floor, which was sub-divided by partitions, the upper level can be reached from a restored staircase at the south end. The upper chambers were covered with a steeply pitched, tiled roof and originally they could also be reached from external gallery which ran the entire length of the inner wall. The west wall retains at the south end one of its tracery windows with side-seats, popularly known as the Queen's window. At the other end a passage leads to a substantial, but primitive, closet. Descending to the courtyard by the staircase from which the gallery was reached, the visitor passes the remains of a group of subsidiary buildings and cisterns. From the courtyard a short climb again brings you to the top-most rampart. On the southern crest, and the summit (some 732 metres above sea-level) a magnificent view of the Northern Cyprus cost awaits. This rampart with its square towers, which were covered with flat roofs on rafters, is early Frankish work. But it replaced a less substantial Byzantine wall and round towers, of which a trace survives below the western tower. Descending by the same route, the adventurous, after leaving the upper ward, may visit the Prince John's Tower. By keeping right, the route leads to a strong and isolated tower standing at the center of the castle, its vaulted Frankish construction suggesting a 14th century date. With sheer precipices on three sides this is assumed to be the donjon-tower, where the great precipice is the place, according to the chroniclers, where the Prince of Antioch's Bulgarians met their unenviable end.

On the downward journey, most of the middle ward can be by-passed through a passage and tunnel, the latter surviving from the Byzantine monastery. From the passage the isolated Castellan's Quarters are reached. These are of Frankish construction and include a vaulted cellar below and a main chamber above (re-roofed in 1938). The latter communicates with a closet and, through a service hatch, with a small vaulted kitchen. On returning to the Custodian's Tower, those with time to spare can explore the eastern section of the lower ward, where the outer wall crosses a steep slope to close against the cliff of rock on top of which the middle ward was built. There was a postern here and, as elsewhere, cisterns were constructed against the inner face of the wall. High on the slope, below the church, are the much ruined remains of a bath building of Byzantine construction.

To return to Saint Hilarion, he was an abbot and monastic pioneer of Palestine who studied at Alexandria, where he became a convert to Christianity. He is said to have visited St. Antony (then at the height of his fame), but returned to Palestine to find his parents dead. He gave all his belongings to his brothers and to the poor and became a hermit at Majuma. His regime was monastic in the extreme; living on figs, bread, vegetables and oil and sleeping in a shelter of reeds. Disciples came to learn from him and large crowds were attracted to him by his austerities and miracles. Eventually settling in Cyprus he lived near Paphos, but later retired to a more remote site. St. Hilarion died at the age of eighty.

Saint Hilarion Castle is a short drive from Kyrenia on the road to Nicosia and is easily accessible from any of the hotels in the Kyrenia region. Onar Village hotel and villas is close by and actually affords some quite good views of the castle, although the area between is very mountainous and all but impossible to cover. Access to the castle by car is straightforward (though the road is quite winding!) and there is a good-sized car park at the base of the castle. As part of your Northern Cyprus holiday, this is a fascinating historical site and well-worth a visit.