Kolossi Castle is a former Crusader stronghold on the south-west edge of Kolossi village west of the city of

Limassol Limassol, also known as Lemesos, is a city on the southern coast of Cyprus and capital of the Limassol district. Limassol is the second-largest urban area in Cyprus after Nicosia, with an urban population of 195,139 and a district population o ...

on the island of

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

. It held great strategic importance in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, and contained large facilities for the production of sugar from the local sugarcane, one of Cyprus's main exports in the period. The original castle was possibly built in 1210 by the

Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages, a group of Low Germanic languages also commonly referred to as "Frankish" varieties * Francia, a post-Roman ...

military, when the land of Kolossi was given by King Hugh I to the Knights of the Order of St John of Jerusalem (

Hospitallers The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there ...

). The present castle was built in 1454 by the Hospitallers under the Commander of Kolossi, Louis de Magnac, whose coat-of-arms can be seen carved into the castle's walls. Owing to rivalry among the factions in the Crusader Kingdom of Cyprus, the castle was taken by the

Knights Templar The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as the Knights Templar, was a Military order (religious society), military order of the Catholic Church, Catholic faith, and one of the most important military ord ...

in 1306, but returned to the Hospitallers in 1313 following the abolition of the Templars. The castle today consists of a single three-storey square

keep A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residen ...

, 21m high and with dimensions 17x17m. It has an attached rectangular enclosure or bailey about . As well as for its sugar, the area is also known for its sweet wine,

Commandaria Commandaria (also called Commanderia and Coumadarka; , and Cypriot Greek κουμανταρκά) is an amber-coloured sweet dessert wine made in the Commandaria region of Cyprus on the foothills of the Troödos Mountains. Commandaria is made fro ...

. At the wedding banquet after King

Richard the Lionheart Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'st ...

's marriage to Berengaria of Navarre at nearby

, he allegedly declared it to be the "wine of kings and the king of wines." It has been produced in the region for millennia, and is thought to be the oldest continually-produced and named wine in the world, known for centuries as "Commandaria" after the Templars' Grand Commandery there.

In literature

Kolossi Castle appears in many works of fiction, including ''La milicia de Dios'' by the Spanish writer Eduardo García-Ontiveros Cerdeño. It also appears in ''Snow Wasted'' by the Cypriot author Matthew Malekos and in the novels of several British writers, including ''Race of Scorpions: The House of Noccolo'' by

Dorothy Dunnett Dorothy, Lady Dunnett (née Halliday, 25 August 1923 – 9 November 2001) was a Scottish novelist best known for her historical fiction. Dunnett is most famous for her six novel series set during the 16th century, which concern the fictiti ...

, ''In Search of Sixpence'' by Michael Paraskos and ''Lionheart'' by Stewart Binns.

Gallery

File:KolossiCastle2.jpg, A hall inside the castle File:LusignanCoatOfArms.jpg, Lusignan escutcheon on the eastern wall File:Escutcheon of Kolossi Castle01.JPG,

Lusignan The House of Lusignan ( ; ) was a royal house of French origin, which at various times ruled several principalities in Europe and the Levant, including the kingdoms of Jerusalem, Cyprus, and Armenia, from the 12th through the 15th centuries du ...

escutcheon of Kolossi Castle File:Kolossi Castle05.JPG,

Fireplace A fireplace or hearth is a structure made of brick, stone or metal designed to contain a fire. Fireplaces are used for the relaxing ambiance they create and for heating a room. Modern fireplaces vary in heat efficiency, depending on the design. ...

, Kolossi Castle File:Kolossi Castle06.JPG, Fireplace, Kolossi Castle, lily bas-relief (Fleur-de-lis) File:Kolossi Castle01.JPG, Inside Kolossi Castle window view File:Kolossi Castle04.JPG, Kolossi Castle ruins (Sugar Factory) File:Kolossi Castle03.JPG, Kolossi

Castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

ruins File:Kolossi Castle02.JPG, Kolossi Castle

ruins Ruins () are the remains of a civilization's architecture. The term refers to formerly intact structures that have fallen into a state of partial or total disrepair over time due to a variety of factors, such as lack of maintenance, deliberate ...

File:Kolossi Castle view.JPG, View from top of Kolossi Castle File:Festung Kolossi 063.jpg, South-east view of Kolossi Castle File:KOLOSSI 01.jpg, South-east view of Kolossi

File:Kolossi castle main chamber.jpg, Kolossi castle main chamber Cyprus

References

{{Castles in Cyprus Buildings and structures completed in 1454 Crusader castles Castles in Cyprus Castles and fortifications of the Knights Hospitaller Kolossi