Kolossi Castle

This is Kolossi Castle in Limassol. It was built by the Knights of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem.



The Knights of St. John would eventually move to the Aegean island of Rhodes, over which they would exercise sovereignty until they were defeated by the Ottoman Turks in the sixteenth century. A few years later they were given Malta, which they held until expelled by Napoleon at the end of the eighteenth century. They are still known as the Knights of Malta and are based in Rome.

In Cyprus, on the grounds of the castle, they produced a famous dessert wine called Commandaria, which my father loves but which is far too sweet for most western tastes--even for a Byzantine-rite Calvinist! If the Ontario liquor stores were to carry it, it would probably be given a sugar rating of 15!