Northern Cyprus boasts many hidden treasures, and chief among them is the Castle of St Hilarion.
As the northern part of the island has been separated from the south since 1974 and still retains a Turkish military presence, tourism is relatively undeveloped developed and the identikit concrete hotels and rampant Westernization that marks many other Mediterranean locations has been studiously avoided. There are so many historic and beautiful places to see up North – think of old Kyrenia harbour, complete with medieval castle and moored gulets, the Roman ruins of Salamis and of course the old walled city of Famagusta where it is reputed that Leonardo da Vinci himself designed the fortifications. However, simply none of these monuments or destinations is as impressive or striking as St.Hilarion’s Castle.
To the casual visitor it seems incredible that such a fantastic structure, rising some 732 metres above the burning heat of the north Cyprus coast, was ever created at all. It reminds the tourist of Minis Tirith, the vertical city immortalized by J.R.R. Tolkein in his Lord of the Rings trilogy. The difference is that this castle is very real, and was a Lusignan stronghold built by crusader knights during the internecine and interminable wars that raged during the High Middle Ages. If you are only going to one tourist destination in Northern Cyprus, don’t hesitate – St. Hilarion’s Castle should be your destination.
