[3] Archaeological surveys published in 1982 and 1987 found that the original Byzantine plan survives primarily at the south with the characteristic square towers.

The Armenians rebuilt the north and west sides of the castle with their distinctive rusticated ashlar masonry (not spolia from the late antique city) and round towers.

The Armenians called this fortress Gorygos (Կոռիկոս).In the 14th century the Cilician Kingdom was on the verge of collapse and in 1360 Peter I of Cyprus captured the island at the request of the inhabitants.

The castle was captured by İbrahim II of Karaman of the Karamanids, an Anatolian beylik, in 1448,[6] and by Gedik Ahmet Pasha of the Ottoman Empire in 1471.

[7] According to the legend of Kızkalesi, a fortune teller informs the king that his beautiful daughter will be poisoned by a snake.

Shocked by the fortune teller's words, the king tries to save the princess by building a castle on an island where no snakes live.