KOLOSSI CASTLE

This castle (Κάστρο Κολοσσίου/Kastro Kolossiou) was the first major building constructed by the Crusaders in Cyprus, in 1210. Remodeled in the ^15th century, it is a powerful three-story square keep, 21 m high, 16 m square and with 2.5 m thick walls. Vaulted rooms and a spiral staircase lead to the crenellated terrace, offering 360-degree views from the Troodos to the Akrotiri peninsula. The tower is surrounded by a 40x30 m enclosure containing the remains of a well, stables, sugar cane refinery, mill and aqueduct. The "Château de Colosse" was built by the Hospitallers, the monk-knights of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, on the fief of Kolossi given to them by Hugues ^I de Lusignan, third king of Cyprus. It became the headquarters of a "commanderie hospitalière", a vast agricultural estate comprising forty villages. From France and the rest of Christendom, the knight-monks introduced sugar cane cultivation and intensified viticulture, notably to produce commandaria, the famous Cypriot sweet wine. Coveted by many, in 1306 the castle came under the control of the Knights Templar. However, after the dissolution of the Knights Templar, it reverted to the Hospitallers in 1313.

French coat-of-arms, English border. Damaged by Mamelukes and an earthquake, the castle was rebuilt in 1454 by Louis de Magnac, Grand Commander of the Hospitallers in Cyprus. He had his coat of arms carved in marble. It can be seen with three others above the main door, in a cruciform moulded box. The central shield bears the arms of the Lusignan family. It is surrounded by the coats of arms of two of Louis de Magnac's hierarchical superiors, those of Grand Masters Jacques de Milly, on the left, and Jean de Lastic, on the right. Humbly, Louis de Magnac has placed his fleur-de-lys shield in the lower register. But no other coat of arms is visible in the rest of the complex. The château passed through the hands of two other Grand Commanders, an Englishman and then an Italian, before being taken over in 1488 by the Venetian family of the last Queen of Cyprus, Catherine Cornaro. The annex buildings were damaged by two earthquakes in 1567 and 1568, and the castle was gradually abandoned after the Ottoman conquest of 1571. Since the independence of Cyprus, it has regained a kind of usefulness: it symbolically guards the border with the British territory of Akrotiri, which passes right next door through the visitors' parking lot.