Kantara Castle, high on the Kyrenia range

Kantara Castle crowns the far eastern end of the mountains of northern Cyprus, just where the island starts stretching out into the Karpas Peninsula. You reach it by car after crossing the Green Line, and the paperwork and insurance you’ll need are in crossing to Northern Cyprus. What changes on the other side is in Northern Cyprus.

Three castles on one range

In its chapter on Cypriot culture, Encyclopaedia Britannica picks out four castles, Kantara, St Hilarion, Buffavento and Kyrenia, as the island’s finest military buildings of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The first three stand high on the same range, with Kantara furthest east. To the west lie Buffavento Castle, in the middle, and St Hilarion Castle, above Kyrenia.

What’s known of its history

With no official history to hand, I’ve summarised English Wikipedia below, flagged as unofficial. In its account, the castle is probably Byzantine in origin, though nobody knows exactly when, and that it served as a lookout against pirates, an administrative centre and a prison. Richard the Lionheart is said to have seized it in 1191 while taking Cyprus, and the Lusignans enlarged it in the 14th century. The Venetians judged it obsolete, the last garrison left in 1525 and it was dismantled in 1560.

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What you see today

I have no official source describing the state of its walls and towers today, and I’d rather not describe them from pictures. What I do know is that it sits high on the range, so I’d wear closed shoes, take water and go early, before the heat.

The range and its military areas

The Kyrenia range runs along the north coast and looks down on the great central plain of the Mesaoria, and from Kantara you see exactly why it mattered. The FCDO tells visitors not to photograph military buildings anywhere on the island, and the Spanish foreign ministry adds that the north has barracks, firing ranges and no-go areas that aren’t always clearly signed. On a mountain road like this one, I’d stick to the marked route and keep the camera pointed well away from anything that looks military. The castle itself is plenty to photograph.

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Reaching the castle

Deryneia is the handiest checkpoint, some 38 km away in a direct line, and from there the road climbs into the range. Famagusta is about 31 km away, so you could also come up from the walled town after a morning at Othello Tower. Nobody official publishes its opening times or prices. I’d pair it with the Karpas Peninsula on the same day and sleep in the south.

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If you are staying the night, see the best hotel deals in Protaras for your dates: the well-placed rooms go fast.