Kantara Castle

Altaïr infiltrates Kantara Castle

Kantara Castle, located in Kyrenia, was a residence temporarily used by the Templar Order and a location visited by the Assassin Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad during his search for the Templar Archive.

History

Kantara Castle was a personal stronghold for Moloch, a religious zealot and Templar commander, who spent a great deal of time in the church of the compound. Maria Thorpe seemed incredulous when learning that Altaïr planned to infiltrate the castle, presumably because of the tight security it possessed. However, she refused to tell this to the Assassin, cryptically mentioning "You'll see."

The castle itself was inhabited by both guards and aggressive religious fanatics, with the former apparently untrusting and suspicious of the latter, which could be gathered when they conversed with each other, stating that "one can't even look one these fanatics in the eye without spilling some pious nonsense."

Trivia

• The actual Kantara Castle is thought to have been built around the 10th century by the Byzantines. Meant to serve as a lookout post against Arab raiders, the fortress was the easternmost of three castles spread throughout the Kyrenia Mountains.
• The first historical mention of the building was in 1191 during Richard the Lionheart's capture of Cyprus, where it is mentioned that the Byzantine governor of the island, Isaac Comnenus, had taken refuge in the landmark.
• "Kantara" derives from the Arabic qantara, meaning "bridge" or "belt".

Reference

• Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines
• Assassin's Creed: The Secret Crusade

es:Castillo Kantara fr:Château de Kantara hu:Kantara kastély it:Castello di Kantara pt-br:Castelo Kantara ru:Замок Кантара uk:Замок Кантара