There’s been a settlement on this spot since the 10th Century, and some kind of fortification to protect it as well, but the current, high walled, stone fortress dates from the 15th Century. Under the current thick ramparts are the remains of earlier Byzantine and Roman forts and towers, and the insignia of the locally powerful Lusignan family can still be seen above the doors.

These days as you cross the drawbridge, protected by the round gatehouse, you’ll enter right up the ramp into the grassy parade ground in the centre, passing the tomb of an Ottoman general, before entering the stables and guardrooms and venturing upstairs where the royal apartments are open to the public, or downstairs to see the dungeons and powder magazines. Visitors are allowed onto the battlements to check out the beautiful view the guards would have had over their harbour.

An addition to the original castle is the Kyrenia Shipwreck Museum which now lies within the grounds. This museum houses one of the world’s most impressive marine archaeological finds: the remains of one of the world’s oldest recovered ships, which sunk around 2300 years ago with its cargo of millstones and amphorae of wine to the sea bed where it waited patiently to be found until 1965.

Written by  World Reviewer Staff.

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