[1] Excavations have revealed Greek traces that date back to the 7th century BC, but the site was developed into a city under Roman rule.

Research carried out at the site suggests that the Byzantines built the original castle in the 7th century to guard the city against the new Arab maritime threat.

The first historical reference to the castle occurs in 1191, when King Richard I of England captured it on his way to the Third Crusade by defeating Isaac Comnenus, an upstart local governor who had proclaimed himself emperor.

After a short period, Richard sold the island to the Knights Templar who could not control it because of peasant revolt, and then to his cousin Guy de Lusignan, the former king of Jerusalem.

The castle's main function was military and the improvements consisted of a new entrance, square and horseshoe-shaped towers, embrasures for archers, and dungeons.

A Genoese attack in 1373 almost destroyed the castle, and the longest amongst the sieges, in the 15th century, lasted nearly four years and reduced the unfortunate occupants to eating mice and rats.

From the first gate, lying to the north west of the fortified wall that the Venetians built, one comes to a vaulted corridor that leads to the entrance of the Lusignan castle.

The Royal quarters to the west of the yard, as well as the big and arched windows of the little Latin Temple also date back to the Lusignan Period.

One of the rooms leading off the courtyard contains the Shipwreck Museum, which exhibits the remains of a Greek merchant ship from the 4th century BC, one of the oldest vessels ever to be recovered, together with its cargo.

Today, the 47-foot-long hull (14 m), made of Aleppo pine sheathed in lead, is preserved in a specially controlled environment in the Museum, together with its amphorae.