St. Hilarion Castle

This fortress was supposedly the inspiration for Walt Disney's castle in the movie "Snow White and the seven dwarfs". True or not, St. Hilarion is well worth a visit.

By Nils Bjørnæs

As a castle St. Hilarion is pretty spectacular. The way its towers and walls come out of the rock, it looks like it is part of the craggy mountain itself. At 732 meters above the sea, with the harbor town of Kyrenia below, it was a perfect location and would have been virtually impregnable to potential attackers.

The castle is named after a hermit who fled Palestine during the 7th century, and lived and died up in the mountains, purging it of pagan demons. It is said that the hermit was stone deaf, so was able to resist their tempting cries. In the end the demons admitted defeat, and left Hilarion and the mountain in peace. A Byzantine monastery, and later a fort sprang up around his tomb.

In 1191, during the Third Crusades, St. Hilarion was one of the last castles in Cyprus taken by Richard Lionheart. A year later the Templar's sold the island to Guy de Lusignan, and his descendents ruled for the next 300 years. The fortifications were improved by the Lusignans during the early 13th century, and little by little sumptuous royal apartments were added and the castle became a summer residence. Perhaps not a bad idea since the temperatures in the summer months often goes up to 35 degrees Celsius or higher. It would probably be much cooler at 700 meters height. It also served as a place of escape in 1349 when the Black Death swept the island.

In 1373, during the Genoese invasion, the castle again became militarily important as the retreat of the under-age King Peter II, and his uncle and regent, John of Antioch. It is said that prince John was mislead into believing his bodyguards of Bulgarian mercenaries were plotting against him, so he had them thrown from the highest tower of the castle, one by one.

When the Venetians took over in 1489, they relied on Kyrenia, Nicosia and Famagusta for the defense of the island, and St Hilarion fell into decay. The castle played its part again in 1974 when it was at the centre of a battle for control of this important pass between north and south Cyprus.

Although St Hilarion is now very much open to the public, the approach road passes through a military area, so is very occasionally closed for access. Be also prepared for a lot of climbing up steep stairs and paths, so good footwear is recommended and plenty of time. But when you finally make it up, it is a great experience and not least, a fantastic view.