It is located at the top of the highest peak of the island's shoreline in the northwest coast near Palaiokastritsa and built on particularly precipitous and rocky terrain.

It was an acropolis which surveyed the region all the way to the southern Adriatic and presented a formidable strategic vantage point to the occupant of the castle.

Angelokastro formed a defensive triangle with the castles of Gardiki and Kassiopi, which covered Corfu's defences to the south, northwest and northeast.

[7][8][9][10][11][12] The first documentary evidence for the fortress dates to 1272, when Giordano di San Felice took possession of it for Charles of Anjou, who had seized Corfu from Manfred, King of Sicily in 1267.

It forms an acropolis that surveyed the region all the way to the southern Adriatic and therefore presented a formidable strategic vantage point to the occupant of the castle.

[4] After Byzantium lost its dominion over southern Italy in 1071, Corfu became the new Byzantine frontier to the West serving to separate Byzantium from its enemies to the west,[3][21] making the island strategic to the Komnenoi who had the incentive to build fortifications to safeguard Corfu from the frequent invasions of the Norman Kingdom of Sicily, which had caused continuing upheaval in the island.

[5][10] Following the takeover of Constantinople by the Crusaders in 1204, Corfu was governed by a variety of rulers, including the Despots of Epirus, until 1267 when it was occupied by the Angevins of Naples.

[24] The Angevins occupied Corfu from 1267 to 1386 and a document related to their takeover of the fortress is the earliest written record attesting to the existence of the castle.

[19] In 1386, with the departure of the Angevins, the castle came under the ownership of the Most Serene Republic of Venice (Venetian: Serenìsima Repùblica Vèneta).

[3] A special Venetian officer assumed the responsibility for Angelokastro, a strong castle which never fell, despite frequent attempts to conquer it.

[3][25] The Venetians, being the prominent maritime power of the era, used Angelokastro to monitor the shipping lanes in the southern Adriatic and the Ionian Sea.

[3] Throughout the period of Venetian rule the castle enjoyed great prominence because it offered protection to the locals from foes such as the Genoan pirates to the west as well as the Ottomans to the east.

The Genoans were on their way to the Holy Land to take part in the crusades and they were under the command of French marshal Jean Le Maingre known as Boucicault.

[3][26] Occasionally, the Venetians provided funds for the repair and maintenance of old rural castles such as Angelokastro as a means of protecting the peasants and their livestock during times of crisis.

The Ottomans landed at Govino Bay, present day Gouvia, and proceeded toward Corfu town, destroying the village of Potamos as they made their way toward the City.

[25] Even at the Old Fortress in the City of Corfu, the weaker segments of the civilian population, women, children and the elderly, called the inutili (useless) by the Venetians, were not allowed to enter the fort and were forced to remain outside its walls.

[2][8] In the account of the Ottoman invasion contained in the History of Paolo Giovio published in 1555, the author mentions Angelokastro, out of all the other castles of Corfu, and praises the bravery of its defenders.

Following these events, Kilich ended the siege of the island destroying vineyards and fruit trees during his retreat,[10] and finally departing with his fleet.

From 1999, however, the Corfu office of the 8th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities of Greece has undertaken a restoration programme under the co-sponsorship of the Greek Ministry of Culture and the European Union.

[22] In contrast to the purely Byzantine style of Gardiki Castle which was also constructed in a single form, Angelokastro's architectural style may not have been purely Byzantine and could have been influenced by Frankish or South Italian architectural elements, although the details of such influence are not discernible today due to its current state of ruin.

[32] French scholar Jean Alexandre Buchon, who visited the site in the 19th century, noted that the construction of its walls seemed rushed.