St Hilarion Castle, perched above Kyrenia

St Hilarion Castle clings to a peak in northern Cyprus, right above the harbour town. It’s a drive up from Nicosia once you’re through a Green Line checkpoint (everything you need is in crossing to Northern Cyprus), and the advice for that side of the island is summed up in Northern Cyprus.

The westernmost of the three

St Hilarion is one of the four castles, with Kyrenia, Buffavento and Kantara, that Britannica singles out on Cyprus. Of the three that crown the range, this one sits furthest west, closest to Kyrenia. Further east are Buffavento Castle and, at the far end, Kantara Castle.

What Wikipedia says

For its history I have no official source, so what follows is English Wikipedia’s version, clearly credited. In that version, the castle commanded the pass on the road between Kyrenia and Nicosia, is the best preserved of the three and isn’t named after the well-known St Hilarion but after an obscure saint who supposedly retired here as a hermit. The Byzantines fortified it from the 11th century, the Lusignans improved it and may have used it as a summer residence, and the Venetians dismantled much of it in the 15th century to save on the garrison. In between, in the 13th century, it was at the centre of a four-year struggle for control of the island between Emperor Frederick II and the regent John of Ibelin. It has a place in fiction too, since two characters in Leon Uris’s 1958 novel Exodus spend a day wandering its ruins, and it turns up in Dorothy Dunnett’s Race of Scorpions. For a castle with so little official documentation, it has had quite a literary life.

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Three wards and a window

The same source divides it into three stepped wards. The lower and middle ones held the stables, the soldiers’ quarters and the service areas. At the top, ringed by a Byzantine wall, were the royal apartments, with Gothic windows looking out over the north coast. The most famous is the Queen’s Window, shown in the photo on this page, which the Commons description links to Queen Eleanor. I’d climb up to it however much effort it takes, because that’s what makes the visit.

Up from Nicosia

You’re about 17 km from the Ledra Street checkpoint in a straight line, and Kyrenia Castle about 5. A car makes sense, crossing at Agios Dometios, which gov.uk names as a place to buy cover for the north. The FCDO also tells you not to photograph military sites, so on the mountain roads I’d keep to the marked route. Opening times and prices aren’t in any source I can cite. I’d combine it with Kyrenia Castle on the same day.

So you do not lose the morning at the ticket office, browse tickets and tours in St Hilarion Castle on GetYourGuide.

If you would rather go at your own pace, see the car hire deals in Nicosia: the earlier you book, the more cars are left to choose from.

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