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The distinguishing characteristic of military architecture in the Kingdom of Cyprus is that the fortresses, few in number and generally more like strong points and barracks than fortified palaces, form a complete system of co-ordinated defence.

This is due to the fact that only the king had the right to build castles and that he had in addition to them a number of palaces and manors, the latter known as royal villas; the nobility were restricted to palaces and manors.*

* (Ed. note.) - On the military architecture of Cyprus see now A.H.S. Megaw in K.M. Setton, A History of the Crusades (University of Wisconsin Press, 1977), vol. IV, pp. 196-207. This demonstrates that the Lusignan kings made greater use of earlier Byzantine fortifications than Camille Enlart believed. There were Byzantine castles at Nicosia, Paphos and Limassol which have now disappeared. Kyrenia Castle was a Byzantine foundation and still contains remains of the work of that period. The castles of St. Hilarion, Buffavento and Kantara were first built by the Byzantines, possibly as part of the measures taken by Alexius I for the greater security of the island after the revolt of 1092. Only at St. Hilarion does much remain of the original work, which is less in evidence at Buffavento and Kantara.


*Camille Enlart* map of Cyprus photobook-1 photobook-2 photobook-3
		Character and development... (1/3) MILITARY ARCHITECTURE

The distinguishing characteristic of military architecture in the Kingdom of Cyprus is that the fortresses, few in number and generally more like strong points and barracks than fortified palaces, form a complete system of co-ordinated defence. This is due to the fact that only the king had the right to build castles and that he had in addition to them a number of palaces and manors, the latter known as royal villas; the nobility were restricted to palaces and manors.* * (Ed. note.) - On the military architecture of Cyprus see now A.H.S. Megaw in K.M. Setton, A History of the Crusades (University of Wisconsin Press, 1977), vol. IV, pp. 196-207. This demonstrates that the Lusignan kings made greater use of earlier Byzantine fortifications than Camille Enlart believed. There were Byzantine castles at Nicosia, Paphos and Limassol which have now disappeared. Kyrenia Castle was a Byzantine foundation and still contains remains of the work of that period. The castles of St. Hilarion, Buffavento and Kantara were first built by the Byzantines, possibly as part of the measures taken by Alexius I for the greater security of the island after the revolt of 1092. Only at St. Hilarion does much remain of the original work, which is less in evidence at Buffavento and Kantara. To guard against invasions across the Karamanian sea three castles were built on the summits of the Kyrenia range which overlooks it: Kantara, which watches over the Karpas, the almost inaccessible Buffavento and St. Hilarion, which dominates Kyrenia and controls the pass leading to it. St. Hilarion is the only one of the three which contains a real palace, its situation making it a delightful summer residence. These castles could exchange signals, by day or night, with those on the plains or on the coast; they also communicated with one another and with the beacon at Pyrgos which itself could signal to the fort on Cape Akamas. Every harbour had a castle to defend it. Kyrenia Castle, the most important, and impregnable before the invention of gun-powder, commanded the entry to the pass which is the key of the Kingdom; Famagusta, Limassol and Paphos also had castles on the seashore; at Pyla, Kiti and Alaminos there are still extant, from a later period, small and unimportant keeps. These last perhaps belonged to barons given licenses to castellate, in spite of the laws of the Kingdom, because of the invasions. Finally, when there was an internal frontier to protect against the Genovese in Famagusta, the castle of Sigouri was built.

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