Ancient CyprusAncient Cyprus

Castle · Ancient Monument

The Castle of Buffavento

Buffavento, Kyrenia District · In the area occupied by Turkey since 1974

The Castle of Buffavento: a castle in Buffavento, Kyrenia District, in the area occupied by Turkey since 1974. Declared an Ancient Monument in 1905. 3 dated records of work on it, 1950 to 1959, with sources.

Protection

Antiquities Law
  1. 1 December 1905

    Declared an Ancient Monument, No. 7852

    “Castle of Buffavento”

    The Cyprus Gazette No. 8391 of 1 December 1905 (Notice No. 7852), p. 5755, PDF p. 283 Online

  2. 10 May 1935

    Scheduled in 1935, First Schedule, Kyrenia item 2

    “The Castle of Buffavento”

    Supplement No. 1 to The Cyprus Gazette No. 2441 of 10 May 1935, A Bill entitled A Law to consolidate and amend the Law relating to Antiquities [the Antiquities Law, 1935], First Schedule, District of Kyrenia, item 2, p. 326, PDF p. 346 Online

What was done when

4 records
  1. 1950

    The castle received attention from the Department of Antiquities.

    Repair and conservation

    As printed

    “The Venetian Armoury in Famagusta and Buffavento Castle also received attention”

    Colonial Office, Report on Cyprus for the Year 1950 (London: HMSO, 1951), p. 53

  2. 1951

    Repairs by the Department of Antiquities were in hand.

    Repair and conservation

    As printed

    “included the Castles of St. Hilarion, Buffavento, Limassol and Kolossi”

    Colonial Office, Report on Cyprus for the Year 1951 (London: HMSO, 1952), p. 57

  3. 1959

    Existing staircases were repaired and a new one built to ease access to the upper section.

    Repair and conservation

    As printed

    “at Buffavento Castle existing staircases were repaired and a new one constructed”

    Colonial Office, Cyprus: Report for the Year 1959 (London: HMSO, 1961), p. 86

  4. Undated

    Two Byzantine-period chambers on the highest peak restored; walls of middle section repaired.

    Repair and conservation

    As printed

    “two of the chambers of Buffavento Castle, situated on the highest peak”

    A. PAPAGEORGHIOU, "Activities of the Department of Antiquities in the Field of the Conservation and Restoration of Ancient Monuments 1960-73", Cyprus Today vol. 11, no. 5-6 (September–December 1973), pp. 11–20, p. 15.

In the literature

5
  1. 1957

    An access road to the castle was built under the Development Programme.

    As printed

    “Access roads were constructed to Vouni Palace and Buffavento Castle under the Development Programme”

    Colonial Office, Cyprus: Report for the Year 1957 (London: HMSO, 1958), p. 87

  2. 1959

    The footpath leading to the castle from the road that serves it was improved.

    As printed

    “that leading to Buffavento Castle from the road which serves it was improved”

    Colonial Office, Cyprus: Report for the Year 1959 (London: HMSO, 1961), p. 87

  3. Undated

    Byzantine fortress on 954 m peak; Venetians destroyed the staircase linking the two halves; visited by Ali Bey in 1816.

    As printed

    “At the time when the Venetians decided to concentrate their forces in Nicosia and the sea-port towns, they destroyed the staircase”

    Nasa Christophidou, "The Medieval Castles of Occupied Cyprus", Cyprus Today vol. 31, no. 1 (January–March 1993), pp. 1–24, PDF p. 10.

  4. Undated

    Dramatically sited battlements praised by travelers and writers.

    As printed

    “the dramatically sited battlements of Buffavento”

    Anon., "Editorial", Cyprus Today vol. 47, no. 1 (January–March 2009), p. 1.

  5. Undated

    Named among the famous castles scattered over the island from the Crusader period.

    As printed

    “the famous St. Hilarion and Buffavento Castles and Kolossi Castle near Limassol”

    Pefkios Georghiades, "A Brief Introduction to Cyprus Architecture", Cyprus Today vol. 3, no. 3 (May–June 1965), pp. 20–21, p. 20.

Pictures

9

In our archive · 7

Costas and Rita Severis Foundation1 painting1948
  • painting, 1948
Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation1 film1969
  • Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (ΡΙΚ), film and video archive, Digital Herodotus item 7669: «ΒΟΥΦΑΒΕΝΤΟ - ΚΑΣΤΡΟ - ΕΡΓΑΣΙΕΣ - ΠΕΡΙΗΓΗΣΗ - 1969», 13 May 1969, 00:02:12, 1969-05-13 Online

Sources

  1. 1.Supplement No. 1 to The Cyprus Gazette No. 2441 of 10 May 1935, A Bill entitled A Law to consolidate and amend the Law relating to Antiquities [the Antiquities Law, 1935], First Schedule, District of Kyrenia, item 2, p. 326, PDF p. 346 Online
  2. 2.The Cyprus Gazette No. 8391 of 1 December 1905 (Notice No. 7852), p. 5755, PDF p. 283 Online
  3. 3.Centre of Visual Arts and Research (CVAR), Costas and Rita Severis Foundation, Nicosia, online catalogue: pht_00708, “Buffavento Castle”, ca. 1918, ; pht_00709, “Buffavento Castle”, ca. 1918, https://cvar.severis.org/en/collections/item/buffavento-castle-2/27965/; pht_TEB_0153, “Mike Belcher at Buffavento Castle”, 1957, https://cvar.severis.org/en/collections/item/mike-belcher-at-buffavento-castle/42247/; and 9 more records Online
  4. 4.Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (ΡΙΚ), film and video archive, Digital Herodotus item 4006: «ΤΑ ΚΑΤΕΧΟΜΕΝΑ ΚΑΣΤΡΑ ΜΑΣ», 24 June 1987, 00:27:36 Online
  5. 5.Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (ΡΙΚ), film and video archive, Digital Herodotus item 7669: «ΒΟΥΦΑΒΕΝΤΟ - ΚΑΣΤΡΟ - ΕΡΓΑΣΙΕΣ - ΠΕΡΙΗΓΗΣΗ - 1969», 13 May 1969, 00:02:12 Online
  6. 6.Louis Palma di Cesnola, Cyprus: Its Ancient Cities, Tombs, and Temples. A Narrative of Researches and Excavations during Ten Years' Residence in that Island (1878), scan p. 21
  7. 7.Giovanni Mariti; translated by Claude Delaval Cobham, Travels in the Island of Cyprus, with Contemporary Accounts of the Sieges of Nicosia and Famagusta (1909), p. 57 (scan 69)
  8. 8.Louis Palma di Cesnola, Cyprus: Its Ancient Cities, Tombs, and Temples. A Narrative of Researches and Excavations during Ten Years' Residence in that Island (1878), scan p. 270
  9. 9.Alexander Palma di Cesnola, Salaminia (Cyprus): The History, Treasures, & Antiquities of Salamis in the Island of Cyprus (second edition) (1884), scan p. 408
  10. 10.D. G. Hogarth, Devia Cypria: Notes of an Archaeological Journey in Cyprus in 1888 (1889), p. 57 (scan 79)
  11. 11.Colonial Office, Report on Cyprus for the Year 1950 (London: HMSO, 1951), p. 53
  12. 12.Colonial Office, Report on Cyprus for the Year 1951 (London: HMSO, 1952), p. 57
  13. 13.Pefkios Georghiades, "A Brief Introduction to Cyprus Architecture", Cyprus Today vol. 3, no. 3 (May–June 1965), pp. 20–21, p. 20.
  14. 14.Colonial Office, Cyprus: Report for the Year 1957 (London: HMSO, 1958), p. 87
  15. 15.Colonial Office, Cyprus: Report for the Year 1959 (London: HMSO, 1961), p. 86
  16. 16.Colonial Office, Cyprus: Report for the Year 1959 (London: HMSO, 1961), p. 87
  17. 17.A. PAPAGEORGHIOU, "Activities of the Department of Antiquities in the Field of the Conservation and Restoration of Ancient Monuments 1960-73", Cyprus Today vol. 11, no. 5-6 (September–December 1973), pp. 11–20, p. 15.
  18. 18.Nasa Christophidou, "The Medieval Castles of Occupied Cyprus", Cyprus Today vol. 31, no. 1 (January–March 1993), pp. 1–24, PDF p. 10.
  19. 19.Anon., "Editorial", Cyprus Today vol. 47, no. 1 (January–March 2009), p. 1.

Corrections and additions

Do you know this monument?

Help us keep this page right: repairs and restorations we have missed, the monument as it is now, and old photographs.

Missing from this record

  • Date of building not recorded
  • Position not recorded

We would like to hear about

  • Restorations, repairs or excavations, with the year
  • A wrong name, place or date
  • Access and the monument's state today
  • Old photographs we may use
Write to us

or alexis@ancientcyprus.com

Tell us if you would like to be thanked by name on the page.