The main road from Tricomo or Tríkomo (Turkish name: Iskele) to Ay. Theodoros (Cayirova) passes near the sea-coast by a former Christian village named Gastria or Gastriá (Kalecik) which possessed small modernised chapels of SS. John and the Prodromos, and an ancient church of St. George once converted into the village school (now ruined).

Gastria Castle, in French "la Castrie", probably from the Greek Kastros, castle (Enlart, 1899) - or a corruption of "Castrum" in reference to a neighbouring eminence on the seashore very conspicuous in the landscape (Jeffery, 1918) - is situated in south-eastern Cyprus on a rocky promontory separating Famagusta Bay from the coast of the Karpas peninsula. There are a few traces of a castle built by the Templars in 1191/2, as suggested by Enlart. The traces are inconspicuous, a few wall foundations, a cistern, and perhaps the vestiges of a small harbour. This may possibly be the castle which was pulled down by King Henry II when he was founding Famagusta.

Gastria Castle is frequently mentioned in the medieval chronicles. Here Gautier de Montbéliard took refuge with his treasures when flying from his brother-in-law Hugh I in 1211. Here also the "vieux Sieur de Beyrouth" landed in 1229 on his way to protect the royal family imprisoned in St Hilarion Castle, and although Amadi says that King Hugh III ruined the castle in 1278, in revenge for the enmity shown to him by the Grand Master of the Temple, still it is spoken of as a fortress in 1310, when the unfortunate Henry II was forced to embark in its little port for Armenia, by his usurping brother Amaury (Almaric) the Prince of Tyre.

Father Stephen Lusignan (1) alleges that this castle was built in 1425 by the Egyptians who then occupied the island and that it was demolished by King Janus when he came back from captivity. It is indeed possible that Gastria was occupied by the Mamelukes and was subsequently demolished by King Janus, or perhaps by the Mamelukes themselves; but to attribute its foundation to the Egyptians and its date to 1425 is a grave error.

Gastria was one of the fortresses of the Templars. The date of its foundation is not known (possibly 1191/2) but it was certainly one of the oldest castles in Cyprus. In 1232, after the battle of Agridi (Turks: Agirdag), in which the royal army had inflicted a most costly defeat on the supporters of the German Emperor Frederick II, some of the leading members of the nobility who had sided with the Emperor fled from the battlefield as far as Gastria. According to Philip of Novara they were 'Walter of Manopello and the son of the Justiciar and their following' (2). They knocked on the door of the castle but it remained shut. The Templars remembered how badly Frederick II's supporters had behaved in Nicosia; the very people who were now begging refuge from them had not long before sacked the headquarters of the Temple and carried off by force the women and children who had taken refuge there. Walter and his companions were obliged to hide. While they were encamped at the bottom of the moat, the Templars sent warning of their presence to King Henry and the Lord of Beirut. The latter sent to Gastria the young John of Ibelin, later Count of Jaffa, with a body of cavalry; he took the rebels prisoner and brought them to Nicosia where they were thrown into the same prison as their friends who had been captured on the battlefield of Agridi (3).

In 1308 Gastria was treated the same as the other possessions of the Templars; the castle was confiscated and handed over to the Order of the Hospital (4).

In 1310, when the usurper Amalric of Tyre seized the Kingdom from his brother Henry II, he sent him under guard from Nicosia to Gastria (5). Three ships were brought to anchor just off the castle and the unfortunate dethroned king was taken off to them in a small boat. He was then taken to Armenia where he was to remain in captivity until his brother died. If it is true that a king returning from prison and exile dismantled Gastria and razed it to the ground it was probably not Janus, as by Father Lusignan, but more likely Henry II, to whom the castle have recalled painful memories. Perhaps it was meant as a punishment inflicted on the Hospitallers for their complicity and one of the acts of justice which accompanied the return of Henry II.

Written sources : (1) Descr. de Cypre, fol. 36 and 155 vo. (2) Gestes des Chiprois, p. 107. Manepeau, the name Philip of Novara uses, is meant for Manopello. Part of Frederick II's army had been recruited in southern Italy and after their defeat they returned there, taking with them their compromised Cypriot supporters. The experiences of these two groups had a certain influence on the introduction of Gothic art into southern Italy as the studies of Bertaux and Join-Lambert will have shown. (3) Gesies, p. 107; cf. Amadi, p. 173. (4) Bustron, p, 170. (5) ib., p. 192.

Also see the many articles and books by Peter Edbury on medieval Cyprus, especially The Kingdom of Cyprus and the Crusades, 1191-1374, Cambridge, 1991; his essay "The Templars in Cyprus", in Malcom Barber, ed., The Military Orders, vol. 1, Aldershot, 1994, pp. 189-95; and the article "Testimony of non-Templar witnesses in Cyprus," also in Barber, The Military Orders, vol. 1, pp. 205-11. ).

Internet source, mentioning Gastria Castle: (...) In return for the treachery of the Templars, King Hugues III destroyed their fortified places at Limassol, Paphos, and Gastria, besides confiscating all their property in the island. Hugues III died at Tyre in 1284 and was buried in the Abbaye de la Paise (Bellapais Abbey), which he had himself embellished and endowed. (...)

Internet source, mentioning Gastria Castle: (...) Although the Templars did not recoup their 40,000 bezant deposit, they were however, permitted to keep their castles and other properties on the island. This allowed for the order to maintain a presence on the island for they had quarters at Famagusta and Limassol as well as castles at Gastria, Khiokitia, Yermsoyia and Limassol (...).

Internet source, mentioning Gastria Castle: (...) The Order of the Temple had been present in Cyprus since 1191, when it had bought the island from king Richard I of England. Very little is known about their activities during the year they were there. There seems to have been some friction between them and the local Greek population, since a bloody riot broke out in Nicosia at Easter. The Templars obviously decided that they could not keep the island with the reduced manpower available, and sold it to Guy of (de) Lusignan in the spring of 1192. From then until they were arrested in 1308 a certain number of Templar knights, sergeants, and priests remained on the island, primarily in their fortresses in Nicosia, Limassol, and Gastria (...).


Webmaster's tip: About 5 kilometres from Gastria, on the road to Famagusta, you'll find the village of Bogaz. The first restaurant at your left hand offers fine fresh fish and cool beer (try the Turkish brand Efes). From the terrace you'll enjoy a view at the Mediterranean and small fishing boats passing by...

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