Located on the northwestern side of the city of Jerusalem, near Jaffa Gate, the castle's construction is attributed to Herod the Great, originally consisting of three towers, the remains of which still stand today. Inside the current citadel, there are Umayyad remains. During the Middle Ages, it served as the seat of the Fatimid ruler and later became the seat of the Crusader kings.
The castle was restored during the Mamluk and Ottoman periods. In 1310 AD, Mamluk Sultan Al-Nasir Muhammad bin Qalawun added a mosque to it, and the drawbridge over the eastern moat also dates back to this period. The castle served as the headquarters of a military division during the Mamluk era, tasked with maintaining the city's security. The current minaret was added during the reign of the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in 1531 AD, along with the eastern entrance.
In 1989, the occupation authorities turned the castle into a museum known as the Castle Museum.