Buffavento: Defier of the Winds

“Buffavento Castle is in the Kyrenia mountain range…Its name is Italian and means, “Defier of the Winds”, reflecting that the winds at its location at 950 metres (3,120 ft) above sea level can reach quite a high velocity. The castle is irregular in shape as it makes use of the mountain itself for its defense. Since 1974 the castle is within the occupied side of the island.

Buffavento stands between St. Hilarion Castle to the west and Kantara Castle to the east, all of which were built as a defense against Arab raids. As both of the other castles are visible from Buffavento, it was used to pass signals between them. It also controlled an important pass through the mountains. It was used as a prison in the 14th century.”¹

Buffavento: Fragmentation and Fall

“The lowest part of the castle was probably built by the Byzantines in the 11th century.”²

“The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire in the East during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul, originally founded as Byzantium). It survived the fragmentation and fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD and continued to exist for an additional thousand years until it fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453.”³

Buffavento: Comnenus and the Lion

“In the 12th century A.D. [Cyprus] became a target of the crusaders. Richard the Lionheart landed in Limassol on 1 June 1191 in search of his sister and his bride Berengaria, whose ship had become separated from the fleet in a storm. Upon her arrival, the ruler Isaac Comnenus of Cyprus requested that Berengaria deboard, which she refused, and upon her own refusal was denied supplies from Comnenus. Richard took this as an insult and attacked the island which was easily subdued.”⁴

“[A]fter his defeat in 1191, [Comnenus] was forced to hand over this castle and others to Richard the Lionheart.”⁵

“Comnenus was bound to lend aid to Richard in his crusade against Saladin, an oath which he later broke, and Richard had him bound in silver chains (as he swore not to bind Comnenus in iron) and kept prisoner till his death in 1194 or 1195…Richard married Berengaria in Limassol on the 12th of May 1192. She was crowned as Queen of England by John Fitzluke, Bishop of Évreux.”⁶

Buffavento: Simplex et minus Astutus

“The army of Richard the Lionheart continued to occupy Cyprus and raised taxes. After local revolts he decided to sell the island to the Knights Templar, who were unable to hold the island because of further hostility among the local population due to tax raising. A rebellion which took place on April 6, 1192 made the Templars sell the island to Guy de Lusignan (1192–1194) who established himself in May 1192…The crusaders described him as “simplex et minus astutus”, though he did set the foundation of Cypriot society in the Lusignan period.”⁷

“The Lusignans expanded the castle in the 14th century. During the Venetian control of the island, Buffavento fell into disuse as the Venetians saw the coastal castles of Cyprus, such as Kyrenia and Famagusta, as more important.”⁸

Buffavento: DEAR VISITOR

“DEAR VISITOR This castle was captured and bestowed to Cyprus Turks by a paratrooper platon [sic] (42 per) leaded [sic] by Sec. Lieut. Ali Sencer Zenkai with a kind of surprise attack that helped to decieve [sic] the defenders on July 1974 [sic]. The operation had begun at 04:00 am and ended at 12:15 pm. Turan Erdem Major 3rd Para.Bat.Com.”⁹

Buffavento: Holding Us Together

“If you want to see a black hole tonight, just look in the direction of Sagittarius, the constellation. That’s the center of the Milky Way Galaxy and there’s a raging black hole at the very center of that constellation that holds the galaxy together.”¹⁰

Michio Kaku