Sharjah24 – AFP: Fables of the Knights Templar are legend, but deep beneath a castle on Cyprus -- an island once owned by the Crusader brotherhood -- lies a legacy historians say still resonates today.
Down steep, narrow and uneven stone stairs in the fort of Limassol is a low-vaulted room lined with tombstones of medieval knights.
This is the chapel where England's King Richard the Lionheart is believed to have been married, en route to the Holy Land in 1192.
"The architecture and the artefacts here reflect the broad history of Cyprus," said Elena Stylianou, a government archaeologist, brandishing a long Crusader-era sword, rusted and chipped but still sharp.
"Cyprus was a place that many outsiders wanted to capture and own."
Richard, the first of so many British visitors to the sunny island, celebrated his wedding night downing sweet red wine -- before spending his honeymoon laying waste to the countryside, burning, looting and adding Cyprus to his possessions.
After the defeated Cypriot ruler surrendered -- reportedly on condition he was not bound in iron chains, so Richard used silver shackles instead -- the English king swiftly sold Cyprus to the Templars.
- 'European orientation' -
The Cyprus Medieval Museum, now housed in the Mediterranean port city's fort, says that while the main castle walls date from the 16th century Ottoman period, they sit on far older foundations.
The vault is "probably a chapel of the primary fortifications of the Knights Templar" on Cyprus.
The Templars, an international army of elite warriors set up to guard European pilgrims travelling to Jerusalem, used the island as their headquarters to fight military campaigns authorised by the pope in the Holy Land, just over 100 kilometres (65 miles) to the southeast.
Cypriot medieval historian Nicholas Coureas said the Crusades were a key step in forging the island's national character.
Coureas works with the government-backed Cyprus Research Centre, which focuses on national history and sociology.
He argues that for the most easterly member of the European Union, history is not just about dusty schoolbooks, but about how citizens see themselves today -- part of Europe, far into the past.
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