*NEW EPISODE!* 42. Castrum Cyprium: Crusader Castles of Cyprus with James Petre

Cyprus' landscape is dotted with castles -- most famously by those nestled on the Kyrenia mountain range -- many which predate the Lusignan Period. First built by the Byzantines to protect Cyprus' northern coast, these castles would become fortified and expanded by the Franks. But Western sources circa twelfth and thirteenth centuries speak of castles throughout the main cities including "castrum Famagustam," "castellum quod dicitur Baffes" and "castellum quoddam firmissimum" in Nicosia. Were there castles there too? And for that matter, why were they later abandoned? Today my guest is renowned castellologist, Dr. James Petre, whose definitive work "Crusader Castles of Cyprus" frames the bulk of this episode.