Kantara Castle
| Kantara Castle | |
|---|---|
| (Greek: Κάστρο της Καντάρας Turkish: Kantara Kalesi) | |
 Kantara Castle | |
  Location within Cyprus | |
| General information | |
| Architectural style | Medieval |
| Town or city |
de jure  Cyprus |
| Coordinates | 35°24′23″N 33°55′24″E / 35.4064°N 33.9233°E |
| Construction started | 10th-century |
Kantara Castle is the easternmost of the three castles situated on the Kyrenia mountain range in the island of Cyprus. (The other two are Buffavento and St Hilarion.) Lying at 630 metres above sea level, Kantara is well positioned to control the entrances to Karpass Peninsula and Mesaoria plain. The name 'Kantara' is derived from the Arabic word qantara,[1] which means "bridge".
It is believed that the Byzantines built the castle in the 10th century as a lookout post against raiding Arabs.[2] The first historical mention of the castle is in connection with Richard the Lionheart's capture of Cyprus in 1191. At that time, Isaac Comnenus, the Byzantine ruler of the island, took refuge at Kantara Castle. Later, in 1228 the Royalists so badly battered the walls that they had to be almost entirely rebuilt. Later, the nobility used the castle as a lodge when they hunted mountain goats with tame leopards.
There is also a myth widely believed, that workers who were building the castle, when time came to get paid for their hard work, where thrown by the queen at the time from her rooms window. Mostly and widely believed, that this was done because queen of the castle did not had the money. Eventually she committed suicide when she had to be arrested. She jumped into the cliff from the same window she was pushing the workers from.
St. Hilarion was supposedly visited the castle of Kantara, in order to free the castle from its queens evil spirit that villagers believed for many years that had been. Eventually St. Hilarion was said that, he explained people that there are no evil spirits in castles but evil thoughts in each peoples hearts.
Also many mix this myth with St. Hilarion castle due to the man had visited and mentioned in the Kantara castle myth.
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Coordinates: 35°24′23″N 33°55′24″E / 35.4064°N 33.9233°E