Guide
Zile Castle stands on a mound in the centre of the Zile district of Tokat and commands the Zile plain. Architectural fragments and inscriptions of the Roman and Byzantine periods have been found in and around it, and on that evidence the castle is thought to have been built in the first century AD. It has the character of an acropolis. By whom and in what period it was founded is not known for certain, but the differences in height along the walls, the forms of the towers and the variety in the masonry show that it was used over a long time, with repairs and additions in different periods. It is built of cut and rubble stone, with the walls strengthened by a number of round towers. It is said that a man named Mithridates, king of Colchis, once used it as a castle, that passages run beneath it, and that it also served military purposes.
A minaret was built on one of the towers in 1336, and a clock was added to it by Ziya Paşa in 1875; the clock of the tower so formed has not survived. The castle's old water cisterns have been restored by the municipality and opened. On the north-east side is a small ancient theatre.
Among the other things told of the place is that Julius Caesar spoke the words veni, vidi, vici at Zile castle after a battle he fought here.
