Buffavento Castle.

What to see at Buffavento Castle

• Buffavento (Bufavento Kalesi) is the highest of the three castles of the Kyrenia range, on a peak of 3,131 feet.
• Little survives: the entrance gate, a tower and some buildings, in a lower and an upper ward.
• It is an unrestored ruin, and the views reach both coasts.

History of Buffavento Castle

Late 11th century

Probably built by the Byzantines as a signal tower; its exact date is not known.

1191

Isaac Komnenos, who had declared himself king of Cyprus, is said to have taken refuge here when Richard the Lionheart took the island.

Lusignan period

The castle takes its final form and serves as a prison.

Venetian period

The Venetians abandon it for lack of soldiers.

Visiting Buffavento Castle

Allow about two hours for a hard climb: about six hundred steps up from the car park, approached from the south. The castle is near Çatalköy, about 5.4 km east of Bellapais (Beylerbeyi), by a narrow mountain road. Nobody staffs the site.

Monuments near Buffavento Castle

• Panagia Apsinthiotissaabout 2 km westAn 11th-century monastery set in the Taşkent nature park.
• Taşkent Martyrs' Memorial and Museumabout 4 km south-westThe Taşkent memorial and museum, completed in 2014, for the martyrs of three villages.
• Bellapais Abbeyabout 5 km north-westThe Gothic abbey the Lusignan kings built for canons who left Jerusalem.