Kyrenia Castle is thought to have been constructed to protect the town against Arab raiders in the 7th century. The entrance to the castle is via a bridge built over a wide moat which would have been filled with water until the 15th Century.

The Lusignan insignia of three lions on the vault of the inner gate has been brought here from another building. Inside the castle there is a thought to have been constructed in the 11 hundreds. The tomb of the Ottoman Admiral, Sadik Pasha the Algerian, who was killed during the conquest of Cyprus by the Ottomans in 1570 is also in this castle.

The other sections of the castle are: The Department of Antiquities created the atmosphere of an open-air museum in the castle by personifying different historical characters and by using site-animation.

The castle features a Byzantian church (St. George’s), Venetian towers in the northwest, southwest, and southeast corners, a guard room, the big hall, various dungeons, a tower dating from the Byzantine period, a cistern, an arsenal and a cannon parapet dating from the Venetian period. The Shipwreck Museum is also located within the castle walls.

St. Hilarion Castle was built to defend the island against Arab raiders and takes its name from a saint named Hilarion. A monastery and a church were built here in the 10th century with the first references to the castle being found in records dated 1191. For some time it was of strategic importance, but later it became the summer resort of the Lusignan nobility. The nobility used to live in the Eastern section whilst the kitchen and other rooms for daily use were in the western section.
The panoramic view over Kyrenia through the Queen’s window (a window carved in the Gothic style) on the second floor of the royal apartments is superb.

Buffavento Castle is one of three castles constructed on the Kyrenia mountain range as a line of defence against Arab attacks. The castle is on a hill 950 metres above sea level and during the Lusignan period (1192-1489), it was used as a prison. In the Venetian times the primary focus was on coastal defence and the castle fell into neglect.

Kantara Castle is the easternmost of the three castles on the Kyrenia Mountains and, at about 700 metres above sea level, is well positioned to control the entrance to the Karpaz peninsula and The Mesaria plain. Although it is thought to have been constructed by the Byzantines following the Arab raids on the island like the other two castles, St. Hilarion and Buffavento, the written sources only make a mention of the castle in the year 1191, when Richard Lion-Heart captured the island. When the impostor king of Cyprus Isac Comnen is defeated by the former Palestine King, Guy de Lusignan, who submits to Richard Lion-Heart, he takes refuge in this castle. He gets caught while trying to escape in the Karpaz region. In the Lusignan and Venetian periods frequent mention of the castle is made.
The castle is involved in many battles in this period. Although the Genoese conquer Nicosia and Famagusta in 1373, the castle stays in the hands of the supporters of the King of Cyprus, Peter I. It is known that, when the king’s brother, Prince John, escapes from captivity in the hands of the Genoese, he takes refuge in the castle. The castle is surrounded with walls by King James in 1391. After the Venetians gain control of the island, like other castles away from the sea, this castle too loses its importance. The castle has sections like a defence line, dormitories, a cistern, vaulted rooms, and a signal tower.