KYRENIA
CASTLE
History - part 1
Sources:
see Bibliography (Cyprus).
Text was also written during my
own visit in March/April 2003.
Supplementary text taken from
G. Jeffery and William Dreghorne.
Text was also written during my
own visit in March/April 2003.
Supplementary text taken from
G. Jeffery and William Dreghorne.
back
to castles Cyprus overview | part 2 At the period when we
have supposed a medieval traveller to have visited the northern stronghold
of Cyprus (XlVth century), the Castle of Kyrenia would have presented
an appearance of palatial luxury which was difficult to realize in its
degraded condition as a Levantine prison a century ago.
The square enclosure with its corner towers would have reminded him of those enormous castles of north Italy of a similar form, rather than of the donjon-crowned châteaux of North Europe.
Above its western wall, overlooking the town across the harbour, appeared a range of apartments which seem to have constituted a royal residence, their Gothic windows and varied outlines affording a contrast with the severe aspect of the other three sides of the square. These royal apartments, which were destroyed when the Castle was transformed about the middle of the XVIth century, may easily be made out amongst the wall foundations and modern buildings on the upper terrace of the western and southern portions of the fortress - amongst these foundations it is easy to distinguish the outline of a chapel with its apse pointing east.
On entering the Castle our medieval pilgrim crossed a bridge over the harbour protected by the usual barbican, then he passed beneath these royal apartments, immediately under the chapel. Within the courtyard he would have seen ranges of chambers around, many of which still survive on the eastern side. On the northern wall these chambers were converted into 'modern' prison cells (ca. 1918, British rule), and on the southern they appear to have been filled up solid with earth in the XVTth century. The chambers on the western side immediately below the royal apartments are still in a remarkable state of preservation; their vaulting intact and their windows, which once overlooked the town, now closed on the outside by the Venetian additions. >>>
The square enclosure with its corner towers would have reminded him of those enormous castles of north Italy of a similar form, rather than of the donjon-crowned châteaux of North Europe.
Above its western wall, overlooking the town across the harbour, appeared a range of apartments which seem to have constituted a royal residence, their Gothic windows and varied outlines affording a contrast with the severe aspect of the other three sides of the square. These royal apartments, which were destroyed when the Castle was transformed about the middle of the XVIth century, may easily be made out amongst the wall foundations and modern buildings on the upper terrace of the western and southern portions of the fortress - amongst these foundations it is easy to distinguish the outline of a chapel with its apse pointing east.
On entering the Castle our medieval pilgrim crossed a bridge over the harbour protected by the usual barbican, then he passed beneath these royal apartments, immediately under the chapel. Within the courtyard he would have seen ranges of chambers around, many of which still survive on the eastern side. On the northern wall these chambers were converted into 'modern' prison cells (ca. 1918, British rule), and on the southern they appear to have been filled up solid with earth in the XVTth century. The chambers on the western side immediately below the royal apartments are still in a remarkable state of preservation; their vaulting intact and their windows, which once overlooked the town, now closed on the outside by the Venetian additions. >>>
Clickable plan of
the Castle of Kyrenia
Western wall
Eastern wall inside