HISTORY - The Castle of Kantara is the eastern of the three Castles built on Pendathaktilos Mountain range. Built at a height of 2068 ft. it commands both the Northern Coast and the plain of Messaoria and controls the entrance to the Karpasia Peninsula. Kantara Castle like the castles of St. Hilarion and Buffavento was first built by the Byzantines, probably after the complete deliverance of Cyprus in 965 A.D. from the Arab danger. However, nothing is known about the castle before the conquest of Cyprus by king Richard the Lionheart in 1191.

We hear about the Castle for the first time in 1191. Isaac Ducas Comnenos who declared himself 'King of Cyprus' took refuge here after his defeat by the English king Richard the Lionheart at Tremetoushia. After the Kyrenia Castle had surrendered to Guy de Lusignan, where Isaacs wife and daughter were captured, Isaac left Kantara and surrendered himself to the English King.
We have more information about Kantara Castle from the Frankish and Venetian period (1191-1571). Its natural strong position made  it many times a battlefield mainly during the Longobardic war, which was partly the result of disputes among the knights of the Frankish kingdom of the Island. Under the name of La Candaire or Candare it always remained impregnable by its occasional besiegers.

After the defeat of the Supporters of the German Emperor Frederick II in the battle of Nicosia on the 14th July 1229 by the faithful to king Henry I (1218-1243) under the leadership of Regent John d'Ibelin, one of the four leaders of the pro-German party, Gauvain de Chenichy took refuge at Kantara Castle together with some af his supporters and entrenched himself there. The Regent then sent an  army under the Knight Anseau de Brie in order to take the Castle. The besieged who were almost unarmed managed to resist for many months, inspite of the destruction that the walls of the Castle had suffered by a special trébuchet built by Anseau de Brie. It was only after the death of Gauvain de Chenichy and the many hardships that the guard surrendered in the summer of 1230. Two years later in 1232 in the absence from Cyprus of the Regent John d'Ibelin, the supporters of Emperor Frederick II headed by Sir Aimery Barlais occupied the Castle again. After the return of the Regent and the seizure of Famagusta, the Castle of  Kantara surrendered to the Regent after a peace treaty carried out by Philip de Novare. It is therefore evident that the castle which is in a remarkable state of preservation at the present day must have been subsequently rebuilt, and may be considered to date in its present state from about 1300.

Kantara Castle remained in the hands of the supporters of King Peter II (1369-1382) even after the invasion of Genoese and the conquest and destruction of Nicosia and Famagusta in 1373. There, Prince John of Antioch took refuge when he managed to escape from Famagusta, where he had been imprisoned by Genoese, disguised as cook. (The prince having been captured in Famagusta with the rest of the royal family, was subjected to disgraceful treatment and confined in a prison with irons on his legs. But his faithful servant and cook, named Galentiri, made an ingenious disguise by which the prince having got rid of his fetters was able to pass out of the town dressed as the cook's scullion with an old cooking pot over his head and a frying pan in his hand which he was supposed to be carrying to be retinned. Outside the walls of Famagusta the prince met with another faithful retainer and within a few hours gained safety and liberty within the Castle of Kantara.) Later on in 1391 King James I (1382-1398), an uncle and successor of Peter II fortified Kantara Castle according to Etienne Lusignan. It seems that the existing fortifications date since then. The Castle was an invaluable observation and defensive outpost  as long as the Genoese held Famagusta.

After the conquest of Famagusta by James II or probably after the conquest of Cyprus by the Venetians a contingent of Italians from the Garrison of Famagusta was detached to guard Kantara Castle.

The importance of the Castle, for the defence of the area from outside invasions, was pointed out in his report by Bartholomeo Kontarini (1519). At that time the Castle was in a very bad state because of shortage of guards and, because it was situated only two miles from the coast, could easily be conquered by three light enemy ships. Kontarini considered that the Castle was very important and suggested that men from the neighbouring villages should be sent there as guards, being exempted from other services. He himself believed that once the Castle fell in enemy hands it would be difficult to be recaptured. Under the Venetian dominion the castle remained garrisoned until 1525, when it was abandoned together with the other hill fortresses. In 1529 Silvestro Minio still refers to it as a fortified and very strong place. A few years later, however, in 1562, we are informed by Sagredo that the Castle was in ruins. Etienne Lusignan writes that the three Castles of the Northern Mountain range Kantara, Buffavento and St. Hilarion were dismantled by the Venetians who did not consider them important fortifications and could not defend them because of lack of soldiers. Nevertheless the demolition was not complete but the weather conditions facilitated the ultimate destruction.

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"The superb Castle of Kantara, the Hundred Chambers, which, seeming to hang in mid-air, dominates this end of Cyprus, has been often visited and described. Buffavento stands higher, and St. Hilarion can shew more perfect ramparts and turrets, but neither recalls so strangely a forgotten age, neither seems to be so thickly peopled with its ghosts, as this lonely ruin on its pillar of rock. No painter's wildest fancy has pictured anything so fantastic as these Cyprian Castles, and, standing at the foot of the last steep leading to the gate of Kantara, and involuntarily recalling the fairy-towers of romance, the traveller might imagine it the stronghold of a Sleeping Beauty, untouched by change or time for a thousand years! It is best seen from the north-west where the precipice is sheerest, the winding paths seem to cling most dizzily to its face, and the ruins of the interior cannot be seen ; but once within the outer gate the illusion partly vanishes in view of the broken battlements, although man and horse can still find shelter in many of the chambers." (11 Devia," p. 101.)

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