The cliffs
Orange and grey.
Josef Moser — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Josef Moser — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Josef Moser — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Rudolphu — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Josef Moser — CC BY-SA 4.0
Buffavento Castle is a castle ruin in the Kyrenia mountains in the north of Cyprus, between Saint Hilarion Castle to the west and Kantara Castle to the east. It sits on a high summit, combines Byzantine and Frankish features, and fell out of use in the 14th century. Its exact building date is unknown; it was most likely built in the Byzantine period, in the 11th or 12th century, in a programme of works that also included Saint Hilarion. It guarded the mountain pass from Kythrea to the north coast. Because the other two castles are visible from it, it was used to pass signals between them. You see towering orange and grey cliffs covered in pines, with the remains of stone walls and arched doorways along their upper edge. A winding rocky path with steps climbs to it, and from the top a view opens over the Mesaoria plain and Nicosia to the south and the sea to the north. It is about 10 km from Kyrenia and about 13 km from Nicosia in a straight line. The climb from the car park takes about 45 minutes. Visitors from the south cross at the checkpoints with a passport, and the Republic of Cyprus treats entry through the north's airport as illegal entry.
Orange and grey.
Arched stone.
Plain and sea.
Kyrenia mountains, between Kyrenia and Nicosia, north of Cyprus
To guard the mountain pass and signal to the other two castles.
Through the crossing points with a passport; the Republic of Cyprus treats entry via the north's airport as illegal.