LIMASSOL CASTLE

Limassol Castle (Κάστρο Λεμεσού/Kastro Lemesou, Limassol Castle) is the city's major medieval edifice. This vast, light-colored, square-shaped stone structure houses some of the medieval collections of the National Museum of Cyprus: coins, tombstones of Frankish and Venetian nobles, bronzes, crockery, vases, Templar armor, pottery, silver plates from the Byzantine period. In summer, the thick, cool walls make for a particularly pleasant visit. Tradition has it that it was here that Berengaria of Navarre married Richard the Lionheart and became Queen of England on May 12, 1191. In fact, the château was built by Guy de Lusignan from 1193 on the site of an early Christian basilica (^4th-7th centuries) and a Byzantine fortress (^10th-11th centuries). It was subsequently extensively altered by Jacques ^I de Lusignan (1334-1398). The castle was damaged by Genoese and Mamluk raids, partially destroyed by the Venetians in 1567, then rebuilt in the early Ottoman period (^17th century). The result is a rather motley assemblage. While the present structure is essentially Ottoman, the entrance was built by the British, as evidenced by the initials VR (Victoria Regina). The terrace offers panoramic views of the Kebir mosque to the northeast, the old carob mill next door and, further west, the Agios Antonios church (1870) and the Köprülü-Hacı-İbrahim-Ağa mosque (1826).