[1] The castle stands in ruins on a hill on the left bank of the Basla (Besleti) river, in the south-eastern portion of Sokhumi, measuring 55 x 27 m in total area.

The surviving structures are walls, rising to 10-12 m in height, of an oval-shaped edifice with a rectangular tower guarding the entrance gateway, which shows traces of tunnels.

Archaeological digs, supervised by Mikhail Trapsh in the 1950s, revealed remains of fortified structures, wine jars, jugs, glazed pottery, and other items dating from the 12th to the 14th century.

[1] The historian Yuri Voronov also conjectured that castle might have hosted the queen-regnant Tamar of Georgia during her stays in Abkhazia in the early 13th century.

[1] In the 16th century, when the town's chief settlement moved to the west, on the right bank of the river, the castle was abandoned and left to fall in ruins.