It is believed that the citadel was built during the reign of Byzantine emperor Justinian I (r. 527–565), and the lower castle dates back to the 13th century.

Between the cylinder-formed bastions, there are overhung support towers in various forms such as square, rectangular and round.

[1] Today, some of the ruined castle walls are buried under reinforced concrete buildings and streets.

The castle walls in the southern part were restored in 1989.

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism launched a project for the restoration of Rize Castle in 2011.