Photos

A view from St.Hilarion Castle.

St Hilarion Castle is named after a hermit and monk who escaped from persecution in Palestine, and lived on the mountain where the castle stands today. The saint resisted the cries of tempting demons who stalked the mountain in the 7th century AD with ease – because he was stone deaf and couldn’t hear them. Eventually the demons left him, and the mountain, in peace.
St Hilarion, the Crusader Castle
By the 10th century, a Byzantine chapel and monastery has been added to the site of the saint’s tomb, joined by a fort in the 12th century. Richard the Lionheart captured the castle on his way to the Third Crusade, and the later Lusignan kings fortified it further. St Hilarion is one of three Crusader castles along the Northern Cyprus coastline, and together with the castles at Buffavento and Kantara, defended the island from pirates and various invaders.