Kolossi Castle, the Hospitallers' tower

Kolossi isn’t a fairy-tale castle with ramparts and moats. It’s a square stone keep, tall and plain, set in the middle of a fertile plain west of Limassol. But its story is tied to two of the great names of the medieval Mediterranean, Richard the Lionheart and the Knights Hospitaller, and that gives it a depth you can’t see from outside.

A much-coveted estate

The Limassol tourist board counts it among the island’s most important medieval fortresses. It stands in a fertile valley by the Kouris river, once surrounded by plantations and vineyards that made the area among the most valuable in medieval Cyprus. In 1210 King Hugh I, of the Lusignan dynasty, granted the estate to the Order of Saint John, the Knights Hospitaller.

The same board also explains the name, which is thought to come from a former feudal lord, Gerinus de Colos.

Richard and the defeat of Isaac Comnenos

There’s a tradition I’m fond of, which the board records on its Omodos page. When Richard the Lionheart reached Cyprus in 1191, he defeated Isaac Comnenos, then ruling the island as despot, at Kolossi. Isaac afterwards took refuge at the settlement of Koupetra, beside today’s Omodos, until Richard summoned him to Limassol to agree a truce. It was the same campaign that ended with the royal wedding in Limassol.

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What you see

What you’ll see is the keep, the one in the main photo with its battlements and stone walls among the trees, and the grounds round it, with a garden and cypress trees as in the second photo. I have no official description of the rooms inside to quote, so the floor-by-floor contents stay out of this guide. My impression from the photos is that it doesn’t take long to see, which is why I treat it as a stop on a route rather than a trip in itself.

Opening times and tickets

Neither the opening hours nor the price turn up in an official source I can cite. Check at the ticket desk or with the Limassol tourist office before setting off.

If you are short on time, see the best tours in Kolossi Castle and pick one that fits your day.

How to combine it

The castle is in Kolossi village, which had 6,482 residents in the 2021 census and since 1 July 2024 has been part of Kourio municipality. It’s about 9 km from central Limassol, about 3 km from Episkopi and around 4 km from Kourion theatre, all as the crow flies.

My route would go like this. Leave Limassol early, stop at Kolossi, carry on to Kourion and the Sanctuary of Apollo Hylates, then go for a swim at Kourion beach or continue towards Pissouri. If wine is more your thing, there’s room between the castle and Kourion for the Cyprus Wine Museum in Erimi, a few minutes away, which its own website says opens daily from 10:00 to 17:00. If fortresses are your thing, the rest of the island’s are in castles in Cyprus.

Where the bus does not go, a car does: compare car hire in Limassol before you arrive rather than at the desk.

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