Editing Limassol (section)

===Medieval===
[[File:Kolossi Castle 01.JPG|thumb|View of [[Kolossi Castle]] built in 1210 by the Frankish military.|left|180x180px]]
The history of Limassol is largely known by the events associated with the [[Third Crusade]]. The king of England, [[Richard the Lionheart]], was travelling to the [[Holy Land]] in 1190.<ref name="CyprusHistory">{{cite web |url=http://www.cypnet.co.uk/ncyprus/history/17.htm |title=Cyprus History: Cyprus under Richard I – cypnet.co.uk |last=Cypnet.co.uk |work=cypnet.co.uk |year=2011 |access-date=5 July 2011}}</ref> His fiancée, [[Berengaria of Navarre|Berengaria]], and his sister, [[Joan of England, Queen of Sicily|Joan]], were also travelling there, but on a different ship. Due to a storm, the women's ship arrived in Limassol.<ref name="CyprusHistory"/> [[Isaac Komnenos of Cyprus|Isaac Komnenos]], the renegade Byzantine governor of Cyprus, invited the noblewomen ashore, with the intention of holding them for ransom, but they refused. So he refused them fresh water and they had to put out to sea again or yield to capture. When Richard arrived in Limassol and met Isaac Komnenos, he asked him to contribute to the crusade for the liberation of the [[Holy Land]].<ref name="CyprusHistory"/> At the beginning Isaac agreed but later on refused. Richard took him captive; the entire island was therefore taken over by the [[Anglo-Normans]], bringing the long Byzantine dominion of Cyprus to an end.<ref>Wolff and Hazard, pp. 63–64</ref> Richard celebrated his marriage with Berengaria who had received the crown as queen of England in Cyprus. Richard destroyed Amathus and the inhabitants were transferred to Limassol.<ref name="CyprusHistory"/>

A year later, in 1191 Cyprus was sold for the sum of 100,000 [[bezant]]s to the [[Templars]], rich monks and soldiers whose aim was the protection of the [[Holy Sepulchre]] in [[Jerusalem]].<ref name="CyprusHistory"/>

The knights enforced high taxes, in order to get back the money that had been given for the purchase of Cyprus. This led to the revolt of the Cypriots, who wished to get rid of the bond of the promise. Richard accepted their request and a new purchaser was found: [[Guy of Lusignan]], a [[Roman Catholic]] from [[Poitou]]. Cyprus was therefore handed over to the French dynasty of the house of [[Lusignan]], thus establishing the medieval [[Kingdom of Cyprus]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bozkurtoğlu |first=Özge |date=2018-01-01 |title=A Multi-lingual Island in the Middle Ages: Cyprus of the Lusignan Dynasty |url=https://www.academia.edu/39786867 |journal=A Multi-lingual Island in the Middle Ages: Cyprus of the Lusignan Dynasty}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Nicholson |first=Helen |title=Remembering the crusaders in Cyprus: the Lusignans, the Hospitallers and the 1191 conquest of Cyprus in Jean d'Arras' Mélusine |date=2018-01-18 |pages=158–172 |editor-last=Parsons |editor-first=Simon Thomas |url=https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/108535/ |access-date=2024-10-04 |place=Woodbridge, Suffolk |publisher=D. S. Brewer |isbn=978-1-84384-458-7 |editor2-last=Paterson |editor2-first=Linda M.}}</ref>

For a period of about three centuries (1192–1489), Limassol enjoyed remarkable prosperity. Cyprus was characterised by its great number of Latin bishops. This lasted until the occupation of Cyprus by the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]] in 1570. Latin battalions which established monasteries were settled down there. The settlement of merchants in Cyprus and particularly in Limassol in the 13th century led to the financial welfare of its inhabitants. Its harbour as a centre of transportation and commerce, contributed greatly to the financial and [[cultural development]].<ref name=":1" />