The answer is St. Hilarion Castle in Northern Cyprus. Richard captured it on his way to the Third Crusade and Walt Disney apparently was inspired by it for his design of the castle in Snow White.

Originally the retreat of a hermit monk (St. Hilarion) it was fortified by the Byzantines in the 12th Century. It is one of a series of castles in the mountains.

We visited several during the week as starting points for lengthy walks... mostly downhill... stretch those soleus muscles! :-)

Before reading, my cynical approach was to say something along the lines of "Bad Hollywood movies". Hmmm. There's a book that retraces the journeys of Sir John Mandeville, the title of which escapes me, but you might enjoy it (if you haven't already read it). Very impressive images, by the way. revenant · 2010-11-02: 13:46

......superb like a dream! ????? · 2010-11-02: 13:53

Very impressive posts... Hermann Hesse adapted a biography of St. Hilarion as one of the three Lives of Joseph Knecht, making up his Nobel Prize winning novel The Glass Bead Game (also known as Magister Ludi). cariad · 2010-11-02: 14:00

so beautiful !!!!!!!!! photodeclair · 2010-11-02: 14:24

Interesting connection - spectacular shots! jet28 · 2010-11-02: 17:40

What an unexpected connection! Wonderful set :-) girafferacing · 2010-11-02: 18:12

Can you feel the envy coming across cyber space?! :-) Those first two did it... DancingDolphin · 2010-11-02: 18:29

awesome slowpete · 2010-11-03: 08:01

Wonderful post!! agandia · 2010-11-03: 17:15

Beautiful! I'm glad you gave us the answer because I would have had to Google it. ????? · 2010-11-03: 22:31

Tagged: sthilarion cyprus historic castle landscape