Kyrenia, in Turkish called Girne, is a port city with more than 33,000 inhabitants in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
In the 10th to 9th centuries BC Chr. Keryneia became one of the nine city kingdoms in Cyprus. At that time the independent Keryneia was under the rule of an unnamed dynast who stood on the side of Antigonus I Monophthalmos against Ptolemy I in the Third Diadoch War. However, Seleucus I, an ally of Ptolemy, conquered the city in in 315 BC.
In 312 BC the dynastic system in Keryneia was dissolved by Ptolemy and the city and its territory were placed under the control of the Salamian king Nicocreon, a former comrade-in-arms of Alexander the Great before Tire and allies of Ptolemy.
The city received an aqueduct, possibly under the Roman emperor Claudius; the city is also mentioned in an inscription from the Flavian period. It is not certain whether it was civitas.
The city became known to archaeologists and ancient historians through the Kyrenia ship, which is to be seen in the city's Shipwreck Museum. The almost 15 m long ship sank by 300 BC.Under the Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos, the castle was expanded as much as St. Hilarion and Kantara on the Karpas, because there was a fear in Constantinople that the island would be invaded by the Seljuks, who had already conquered large parts of Asia Minor.
The olive tree needs a long time to grow big, but after that can get several hundred years old. Such and other miracles of nature, we should experience in Northern Cyprus during a trek that took us along the historic olive grove of Kalkanli.
Karaman or Karmi is undoubtedly the prettiest and most well-kept village in Northern Cyprus. Time here seems to have stood still; little cobbled streets, meander around, running mountain streams and wild-life are the only sounds you are likely to hear.
From Kormacit we had left to the ruins of the ancient Roman City of Soli, a city whose traces can be followed back to the 11th century BC.
Wilbrand of Oldenburg, at the time Bishop of Paderborn and Utrecht, was very close to Emperor Otto IV, when between 1211-1212, he was send to prepare another crusade to the Holy Land, where he especially explored Cilicia and Cyprus.
Along with Kantara and Buffavento, St. Hilarion Castle was originally built as a watch tower for approaching pirates who launched a series of raids on Cyprus and the coasts of Anatolia from the 7th to the 10th century. By the 10th century, a Byzantine chapel and monastery had been added to the tower’s site and joined by a fort in the 12th century.
Besparmak Mountains, also called Pentadaktylos Mountains, together with the three mighty castles St. Hilarion, Buffavento and Kantara, stretches along the north coast of the island of Cyprus.
Of course, we were excited to see where the invitation to North Cyprus was leading us to because never before we had heard of a village called Koruçam or Kormacit.
Buffavento Castle - better the ruins of the medieval hilltop castle in Northern Cyprus - is one of three castles in Pentadaktylos Mountain next to the castles of Kantara and St. Hilarion.
At the beginning couple of our readers have ask for getting some more detailled information about Cyprus, because lot of holiday makers take the chance to go to North Cyprus by ferry-boat from Antalya, Alanya or Silifke once being at the Turkish Riviera.
Nestled in the delightful village of Bellapais, high in the Five Finger Mountains, is the Bellapais Abbey. The name Bellapais is said to derive from the French “Abbaye de la paix” meaning Monastery of Peace.
Standing formidably at the entrance to the harbour and commanding excellent views of the harbour entrance and surrounding seas is Kyrenia Castle, dating back to the 1500s.
One of the region’s many highlights is the picturesque port town of Girne which is famous for its historic and perfectly crescent-shaped harbour set against the dramatic backdrop of the Five Finger Mountains.