The location of the village is mentioned for the first time in the Kitab-ı Bahriye ("Book of the Sea") by Piri Reis (c. 1465 – 1553), Ottoman admiral, navigator, geographer and cartographer.

The Babakale Castle (Ottoman Turkish: Hırzü’l-Bahr) is situated on a hill at Cape Baba near the seashore.

According to a marble inscription found above the main castle gate, it was built by Admiral Kaymak Mustafa Pasha between AH 1135–1141 (1722–1729 CE) to protect the settlement from French pirates.

[3][9] At one time the cutlery, which was produced in around 18 workshops, was exported to many places in a region between Syria and Egypt from the local port via sea trade.

Manufactured of forged chrome steel by traditional methods,[9] the knives of Babakale are stored in a scabbard and are ornamented.