Unassuming crom the outside, Limassol casde stands in a pleasant garden immediately north of the old port. What you see today is a careful restoration of Byzantine foundations, Venetian vandalism, Ottoman adaptation for military purposes and traces of British justice (it was a jail during the colonial period). Somewhere under the existing walls stood the long-vanished Byzantine chapel of Saint George in which, tradition has it, Richard the Lionheart married Berengaria on May 12, 1191. Anticipating his rout of Isaac, Richard also had himself crowned king of Cyprus and his bride queen of England, in the pres- ence of assorted Latin clerics and nobility.
Currently, the castle houses the Cyprus Medieval Museum (Mon-Sat 9am-5pm, Sun 10am-1pm; C£l), though the building, with its musty, echoing vaults, air shafts and masonry ribs, is as interesting as any of the exhibits, most of which are on the upper floor. The emphasis is on metalware, heraldry and sacred art, including bas-reliefs and pottery with Christian designs; the best bits are silver Byzantine plates showing events in the life of David, part of the Lambousa Treasure, and a suit of armour from the Lusignan period (twelfth-fifteenth century). The roof terrace and secondary tower are some- times open and afford excellent views over the town.
