[2] First serving as the residence of the Kings of Majorca, and afterward long used as a military prison throughout the 18th to mid-20th century, it is now under civilian control, being one of the main tourist attractions of the island, as well as the seat for the city's History Museum.

The Castle has clear Islamic influences in its original design, displaying double Arches characteristic of Moorish architecture, a part of the fortification was built by architect Pere Salvà, who also worked in the construction of the Royal Palace of La Almudaina, together with other master masons between 1300 and 1311 for King James II of Aragon and Majorca.

In 1408, King Martin I of Aragon gave the lordship of Bellver to the Charterhouse of Jesus of Nazareth in Valldemossa.

During the Spanish Independence War it was used to hold several prisoners captured at the Battle of Bailén and later, political prisoners, the most famous of these being the minister Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos (1802–1808) who first made a description of the castle and commissioned the first blueprints and drawings of it.

The castle served from then on as a political prison, used to lock up several important supporters of the subsequent Habsburg pretenders to the Spanish throne during the 19th century, and later notable republican and Catalanist leaders during the 20th century, including Alexandre Jaume, Member of the Parliament who first won the castle for the city, and Emili Darder, who was the mayor of the city, both subsequently shot.

[4] Having been founded as a seat for the royal court of James of Mallorca, its structure combines the needs of a palace with defensive elements.