The present tower replaced an old Byzantine fortification, known to have been mentioned around the 12th century, that the Ottoman Empire reconstructed to fortify the city's fortress some time after Sultan Murad II captured Thessaloniki in 1430.

During the period of Ottoman rule, the tower became a notorious prison and the scene of numerous mass executions, most famously of the Janissaries who revolted during the reign of Mahmud II.

Some of the embrasures in the outer wall of the tower are reached by a spiral ramp; others are accessed from a central room on each of the six floors.

[1] The present tower, which once guarded the eastern end of the city's sea walls, was for many years attributed to Venice, to which the Byzantines ceded Thessaloniki in 1423.

[2] Until 1912, an inscription in Ottoman Turkish verse above the door attributes the tower's construction to AH 942 (1535–1536) on the orders of Sultan Suleiman.

[1] The historian Franz Babinger speculated that the structure was designed by the Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan, who is known to have built fortifications, including a similar tower at the Albanian port Valona in 1537.

The Tower is open to the public, and visitors have the opportunity to view a map of the city with monuments and museums, a timeline with events relevant to Thessaloniki, scientific articles of distinguished historians and archaeologists, bibliography etc.

[11] According to historian Donald Sassoon, banknotes depicting the White Tower were created by extreme nationalist organizations in the Republic of Macedonia.