The castle of Kantara is the easternmost castle of the three Pentadaktylos mountain range castles in the Ammochostos district in occupied Cyprus. Built at 2068ft it commands both the northern coast and the Mesaoria plain and controls the entrance to the Karpas peninsula. Like the castles of St. Hilarion and Buffavento, it was first built in the Byzantine period after the Arab raids. However, nothing is known about the castle before the conquest of Cyprus by King Richard the Lionheart in 1191.

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In English It is believed that the Byzantines built it in the 10th century as a lookout post against raiding Arabs. The first historical mention of the castle is in connection with Richard the Lionheart's captured Cyprus in 1191. At that time Isaac Comnenus, the Byzantine ruler of the island, took refuge at Kantara Castlee.

Later, in 1228 the Royalists so badly battered the walls that they had to be almost entirely rebuilt. Then, the nobility used the castle as a lodge when they hunted mountain goats with tame leopards.

Its is currently occupied illegally by the turkish army following the turkish invasion of Cyprus