Hstory Of Kyrenias Castle-cyprus
Hstory Of Kyrenias Castle-cyprus
However excavations carried out show that the original castle was fortified by the Byzantines in the 7th century A.D. to protect against Arab raids.King Richard the Lion Hearts rule was not welcomed in Cyprus so he sold the island to the Knights Templar who in turn sold it to KingConsort Guy de Lusignan. Thus Cyprus was under frankish rule for almost 300 years 11921489. The castle which was originally very small was enlarged and fortified between 1208 and 1211 by Lusignan King Jhon of Dlbeli.
In this period Byzantine fortifications were reproduced and thus a new gateway horseshoe and squareshaped towers arrow loopholes guards rooms and dungeons were added to the castle. It was thus used as a place of refuge in periods of war and as a place of recration in peaceful times.
The castle was badly damaged by Genoese attacks in 1973 but in 1489 Cyprus came under Venetian rule and hence the castle was modified and refortified in order to meet the new military threat posed by the use of gunpowder and large cannons and thus took its current form with its large loopholed towers. It was surrounded by dikes which had water in them until the 1400s. The Lusignan threelionemblom on the inside of the vault was brought to the castle from a different building. Furthermore there is a Byzantine Church St. Georges Cgurch from the 1100s on castle grounds.
In 1571 the castle and the town surrendered to the victorious Ottomon army. The tomb of the Algerian Ottomon Admiral Sad?k Pasha who died during the mentioned conquest is still in the castle. All modifications added to the castle during the Ottoman perios were destroyed during the restoration completed during the time of British colonial rule.
The castle was used for touristic purposes from 1960 until 1963 and was only partly open for tourism from 1963 until 1974 as it was mainly used for military purposes by the Greek Cypriot National Guard. Since 1974 it has been open to public under the supervision of the Office of Antiquities and Museums.
BUILDINGS LOCATED IN KYRENIA CASTLE
Lusignan Tower: was built by John of Iselin in the years 12081211 on the remnants of the Byzantine fortifications. Byzantine British LusignanVenetian Ottomon and British military flags are exhibited in this tower.
St. Georges Church: is a Byzantine building from the 12th century. It was a freestanding building in the Byzantine and Lusignan period and made part of castle grounds in the Venetian period.
Cistern: was most probably constructed during the Lusignan period and provided water for the castle.
Dungeons: were constructed in the Lusignan period and witnessed many torturous acts under the rule of King Peter 1. Nowadays there is an exhibition in one of these dungeons with a replica of a torture chamber.
Ship Wreck Museum: contains the wreck of one of the oldest ships ever salvaged. It is known to have belonged to the fleet of the Hellenistic Kingdom after Alexanders death in the Mediterranean. It was discovered by a sponge diver in 1965 at a depth of 24 metres 1.5 km from the shore and salvaged in an expedition directed by a graduate student of the university of Pennsylvania.
Venetian Tower:reflects architecturel features typical in the 16th century Venetian period. Nowadays it contains the exhibition of waxfigures of Venetian soldiers preparing to fire cannons etc.
K?rn? Graveyard: an exhibition of excavations from the early and late Bronze Age found on a cemetery in the village K?rn?.
Mediterranean Graveyard Excavaions: exhibition of finds and models of cemeteries as they were customary during the Hellenistic and Byzantine periods.
Williom Dreghorn Exhibition and Conference Room: belongs to the Lusignan period and is an exhibition of authentic drawings with the theme Kyrenia by William Dreghorn
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