The establishment of the first fort on the wooded hill that dominates the modern city of Igoumenitsa, dates back to Late Roman times and is probably related to the Late Roman ~ Early Christian settlement (2nd - 6th cent. AD) excavated in Ladochori plain in the cove of Igoumenitsa bay. From the abandonment of this settlement in the 6th cent. until the middle of the 13th cent., when Thesprotia was incorporated in the territory of Despotate of Epirus, remains unknown if and how habitation continued in the area of the modern city.

The castle is connected with the history of the town of Igoumenitsa from 15th cent. onwards, when the city was a commercial station and one of the outposts of Venice in western Greece, until its final conquest by the Ottomans in 1540. In 1685, the Turkish fort was blown up by the Venetian fleet led by admiral Morosini and a century later was partially rebuilt after its capture by Ali Pasha of Ioannina.