Although the castle was built in
Byzantine times, most of the remains
are from the Selçuk and Ottoman
period. The castle has two gates,
one being a memorial gate on the
west and the other on the south. The
walls were fortified with fifteen
towers. A large section of the wall
has been restored.
Legend has it that St. John wrote
his gospel in one of these towers.
The hill was defended by this
well-fortified castle in the Early
Christian, Byzantine, and Selçuk
periods. The part of the wall still
standing is from the Early Christian
period and was restored in Selçuk
times.
The main gate in the wall was
borrowed from Roman design and was
built in the 6th century. Within the
castle are a chapel and numerous
cisterns. This old Byzantine church
was later used as a cistern.
