The Saint Hilarion Castle lies on the Kyrenia mountain range, in the north of Cyprus near Kyrenia. This location provided the castle with command of the pass road from Kyrenia to Nicosia. It is the best preserved ruin of the three former strongholds in the Kyrenia mountains, the others being Kantara and Buffavento. Since 1974 the castle is within the illegal and internationally-unrecognised Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Much of the castle was dismantled by the Venetians in the 15th century to reduce the up-keeping cost of garrisons.