Forty columns Castle, located near Paphos is one of the many fortified castles of Cyprus, which were created for the defense of the territories of the Arab raids. Previously, it was believed that this castle was built in the XIII century, but archaeological excavations of recent years suggest that the fortress on the site appeared in the VII century, thanks to the Byzantines, but later, at the beginning of the XIII century, when the head of the Cyprus kingdom became Guy de Lusignan, the castle was completely rebuilt. However, in 1222 the building was almost completely destroyed because of the strong earthquake.

The name of the fortress was due to the large number of granite columns that support the arch of the castle. Presumably, all the columns have been specially brought from the Greek city of Agora. Originally the castle was surrounded by a massive wall with a thickness of about three meters in front of her traditionally been dug and filled with water, a deep ditch. Castle also defended eight fortified towers. At the fortress could be reached only by a wooden drawbridge. The area of ​​the courtyard was quite small - only 35 square meters.

Despite the fact that now from the castle remained almost forty column only ruins, it is one of the greatest archaeological treasures, not only in Cyprus, but also around the world. It is still possible to admire the columns, miraculously preserved remains of the towers, spiral staircases, dark dungeons and basements, which once housed a smithy, a sauna, a mill and even stables.