The castle ruins is the oldest historical monument and one of the most significant places in Rezekne popular among tourists from which the river and part of the old city are observable.

The favourite place of residence of ancient Latgalians in the 9th to 12th centuries at the hill on the bank of the river where in the end of the 13th century, the Master of the Livonian Order, Wilhelm von Schauerburg (Vilhelms de Šauerburgs) built the order castle Rositten here. This name of the castle is the first known and documented name of Rezekne.

The castle served as the main supporting fort in the 14th century during the war with Russians and Lithuanians. After the war with Lithuania in the 14th century when Latgale became a neutral region for a very short period, craft and trade developed in Rezekne. After the fall of Livonia in the 16th century, Rezekne that was part of Poland at that time, decayed, and in the beginning of the 18th century, only ruins reminded that once mighty castle existed.

In the 20th century, there was an illuminated park, café and even a theatre among the ruins.

Opposite to the Rezekne castle hill, there is a model Rositten castle that shows how the castle hill could look like in the Medieval times.