Kantara Castle

The castle of Kantara is situated in the east of the Kyrenia Mountains. From a position 700 meters above sea level, the knights of the castle could control the roads to the Karpaz peninsula and the Mesaoria plains, i.e. almost all of the northern surrounding countryside of Famagusta. In the year of 1191 the castle became of place of refuge for Cyprus king Isaac Comnenos who escaped when the British king Richard the Lion Heart had defeated him in a battle outside Limassol on the island's south coast.