| Although the castle was built in Byzantine times, most of the remains
are from the Selcuk 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 Selcuk periods. The part of the wall still standing is from the Early Christian period and was restored in Selcuk 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.
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