St Hilarion Castle is named after a hermit and monk who escaped from persecution in Palestine, and lived on the mountain where the castle stands today. By the 10th century, a Byzantine chapel and monastery has been added to the site of the saint's tomb, joined by a fort in the 12th century. Richard the Lionheart captured the castle on his way to the Third Crusade, and the later Lusignan kings fortified it further. St Hilarion is one of three Crusader castles along the Northern Cyprus coastline.
