The medieval walls are believed to be built during the time of the height of the Byzantine Empire, from Constantine I to Justinian I.

In 1411, Sigismund, the Holy Roman Emperor ceded Zemun to despot Stefan Lazarević.

On 11 August 1456, it was here where John Hunyadi, the famous regent of Hungary, succumbed to his wounds during the Siege of Belgrade.

As there were far too many unburied corpses of fighters around the tower, a plague hit the army and the regent shared the same fate as his ill soldiers.

The Ottomans capture Zemun in 1521, in a fierce battle against the Serbian regiments under Marko Skoblić.