The medieval country castle was built in late Byzantine times, had various owners and was in use until the conquest in the 15th century. It was located on the western edge of the ancient town of Korykos near its harbour. At its southwest corner you can see the remains of a pier, which may have connected it with the Kiz Kalesi Girls' Castle (in Turkish Kiz Kalesi), located on an island about 600 metres away.

Korykos, inhabited since Roman times, lost more and more of its importance from the 10th century onwards and decayed. In 1099, the Byzantine Emperor Alexios I ordered the castle to be built at the same time as the Seleukeia ad Calycadnum castle, about 25 kilometres to the south-west, in order to secure the sea route to Cyprus and thus to the Holy Land for the Byzantine Empire.

In the early 12th century the castle and the town were probably conquered by the Armenian King Constantine I and belonged to the kingdom of Kleinarmenien. During this time the fortress was considerably extended and strengthened by a second wall ring. When in the late 14th century the power of Kleinarmenien disappeared and the city was threatened by the Caramanids, the inhabitants called King Peter I of Cyprus for help. He sent the English knight Robert of Lusignan to Korykos. During the reign of the House of Lusignan, further alterations were carried out to the complex, whereby the inner fortification ring was massively reinforced and raised. After the conquest by the Caramanids in 1448 and the Ottomans in 1482, there is no further information about the castle.