St. Hilarion - elevation 725m (2379 ft)
The 300m (1,000 ft) north face of the mountain has a superb steep scramble, which starts via the
ascent of the firebreak seen at the bottom right of this photograph (a closer detail in the photo
below). This is accessed from the track passing by the ruins of Ayia Marina at the foot of the Orange
Route from Karaman (Karmi). Before the top of the firebreak, the path bears left through the
middle ground, ascends diagonally up the rocky section, to emerge just above the vertical ravine
(seen in shadow, middle left and in detail in photos below). The path continues up the 'hanging
valley' and onto the foot of the castle, for which you must pay an entrance fee if you wish to
achieve the summit!
Looking down the ravine
Allegedly the inspiration for the castle in Walt Disney's 1937 film of "Snow White and the Seven
Dwarfs", St. Hilarion takes on a fairy-tale and mystical air (or should that be mistical?). St. Hilarion
is a 13th-century Crusader Castle - for a comprehensive history see Hans Doeleman's excellent
The north face of St. Hilarion is a huge cliff for some serious rock climbing