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In the Middle Ages, the Gilău estate belonged to the Transylvanian bishopric, and the settlement – which was formed near a Roman castrum – hosted one of the bishop’s residences. In the first documents, the name of the settlement appears in the forms Golou / Gylo / Gyolou / Gyalov / Gyalow. The first mention of the settlement appears in a charter of Hungarian King Béla IV, issued in 1246 for the bishopric of  Transylvania, from which we learn that the inhabitants were not subject to the jurisdiction of the voivod, but of bishop. The medieval castle (castrum) is mentioned for the first time in 1428, during the time of Bishop György Lépes. The castle was the center of a vast episcopal estate, established at the end of the 13th century, west of Cluj, to counterbalance the power of the Benedictine abbey of Cluj-Mănăștur. Initially, the episcopal estate was administered from Cluj in the 13th century, but after acquiring town privileges in the early 14th century, the residence was moved to Leányvár above Florești, which was abandoned in favor of Gilău at the end of the 14th and 15th centuries. The episcopal residence within the walls of Gilău is first mentioned in a document from 1456, likely built by Bishop Máté de la Bischino (1443-1461). Around 1466, Bishop Miklós Zápolya (1462-1468) built a church dedicated to Saint Nicholas within the castle walls. In the same year, the settlement of Gilău was granted market town status.

In the following years, the humanist Bishop László Geréb (1479-1502), cousin of King Matthias Corvinus (1458-1490), completed the construction of the late medieval castle and the episcopal palace. From this period date, the valuable carvings of the episcopal residence almost entirely disappeared: several fragments of Renaissance-style reliefs and architectural elements, some of which reached the Cluj history museum in the 1930s, while others were discovered during recent restorations. The most beautiful pieces uncovered during the current restoration can be seen in the exhibition arranged in the castle. Their art historical value lies in their close resemblance to the decorative elements of late Quattrocento buildings in Florence and the royal palace of King Matthias Corvinus in Buda. These carvings from the end of the 15th-16th centuries are the earliest witnesses of Renaissance art in Transylvania. Since the elements were carved from local stone, they were probably made on-site by craftsmen who also worked on the royal constructions in Buda. Restoration and research revealed that the eastern wall of the former episcopal palace, which was two-storied, still stands, being used as the western facade of the eastern wing, and archaeological excavations uncovered the foundations and cellar of the palace.

In 1540, the King of Hungary, John Zápolya (1526-1540), coming from Buda to Transylvania, stopped at the Gilău castle, which was owned by Bishop János Statileo (1528-1542). During the time of Statileo and his immediate successors, the Renaissance castle composition was essentially completed, whose mass (rebuilt in many places) still exists: a regular, almost square fortress defined by four cylindrical corner towers, with a gate tower on the eastern side and a building wing attached to the western wall. In the eastern part of one of the earliest Renaissance fortresses in Transylvania, the previous episcopal palace was integrated, while the surrounding, probably oval-shaped medieval fortress was completely demolished. During the restoration, several gun chambers were discovered in the northern towers and on the eastern, southern, and northern walls. The fortress was originally surrounded by a large dry moat.

In 1541, after the Ottoman occupation of Buda, Queen Isabella Jagiello, the widow of Zápolya, retreated to Transylvania and established her court in Gilău, thus maintaining the divided state of the Kingdom of Hungary after 1526. Ferdinand I of Habsburg (1526-1564), the rival king of Hungary, intending to liberate Buda from Ottoman occupation after the death of John Zápolya, negotiated with the governor of Transylvania and Isabella’s advisor, Martinuzzi György (Fráter György, 1541-1551), sending his commissioners to the Gilău castle. Here, Martinuzzi signed the Treaty of Gilău, which was never implemented, according to which the territories of the Kingdom of Hungary not occupied by the Ottomans would have been united under the Habsburg scepter. In 1542, Bishop János Statileo mortgaged the Gilău estate to his castellan, Péter Móré, whose coat of arms was discovered on the best-preserved northwestern corner tower. After the death of Bishop Statileo in 1542, Queen Isabella took over the episcopal estates, and the Gilău castle became her residence. The castellan-owner, Péter Móré, received 500 florins from the tax revenues of Sibiu to cover the costs of repairs and constructions. In 1556, the exiled Queen Isabella returned to Transylvania, and the episcopal estates were secularized, so the castle returned to her possession. Later, from the 1580s, the castle and estate had several owners: in 1587 Governor János Ghiczy; in 1597 the newly appointed Catholic bishop of Transylvania, Demeter Naprágyi; in 1600 for a few months Voivode Michael, then Habsburg general István Csáky and Gheorghe Basta; between 1603-1605, Pongrác Sennyei. In 1605, Prince István Bocskai took the castle by siege (1604-1606) and ordered its first inventory.

In 1605, the castle became the property of the noble György Rácz, and in 1607 it returned for the second time to Pongrác Sennyei, while in 1611 it was owned by Farkas Kamuthi. During the reign of Gabriel Bethlen (1613-1629), in 1615, the Gilău estate was officially declared the property of the princely treasury, but the prince left it in the possession of Kamuthi. Between 1631-1633, the estate was owned by Dávid Zólyomi. Between 1633-1643, the estate returned to the treasury, but Prince George Rákóczi I (1630-1648) used it as his property and, in 1643, mortgaged it for his younger son, Sigismund. In 1649, the latter gave it to his nephew, the son of George Rákóczi II. The Gilău estate remained in the possession of the Rákóczi family until the death of George Rákóczi II in 1660.

It can be said, based on  sources  about Gilău, that before 1638 the castle was essentially a field with representative buildings: the walls were defended by four corner towers, and there was also a tower above the gate. Most of the buildings were in the inner courtyard to better protect the walls, and the towers had no windows as they stored weapons. Before the Rákóczi modifications, the owners still used the rooms on the upper floor of the eastern wing, which were close to the main gate (bedroom, living room, chapel, “golden house”).

During the Rákóczi era, the residence underwent radical transformation but was later damaged during the Kuruc wars (1704, 1707) and 19th-century interventions also significantly altered it. By the order of Prince George Rákóczi I, between 1638 and 1652, the Renaissance fortress was transformed into an impressive princely residence. It is known that the prince ordered the construction, renovation, or radical transformation of numerous castles, fortresses, or older churches. The Sárospatak castle (Hungary), the Mukachevo castle (Ukraine), the Oradea castle and palace, the Făgăraș castle and palace, the church on Lupului street in Cluj, the old Torda Reformed church – all bear the marks of his constructions. According to the wishes of Prince George Rákóczi I, the medieval buildings within the castle courtyard were demolished, including the former splendid palace of the bishops, of which only the eastern wall was preserved, being connected to the eastern wall of the castle to form a new wing. The circular corner towers were preserved, but their floors were reorganized, eliminating the gun chambers. The new palace was arranged in the two-row western wing and the connecting corner towers, and two-story wings were built along the southern and northern walls to connect the eastern and western wings. The upper rooms were covered with vaults, traces of which were discovered during restoration. Large windows were opened in the old castle walls. Next to the eastern and northern wings, a representative Renaissance loggia and a decorative staircase were built. Each princely family member had a living room arranged on one of the tower floors. The north-western room of the prince was accessible from several directions: his wife’s room, the so-called audience house, and the church (which was in the western wing). The audience house was decorated with hand-painted wall tiles from Iznik, Turkey, considered a luxury at that time. The defensive function of the towers changed, being fitted with windows, the weapons were removed, and the ground floor rooms were transformed into living rooms. At the death of Prince George Rákóczi I in 1648, the works were not yet finished, and construction continued until 1654.

After the death of Prince George Rákóczi II, in 1660, the castle became the property of Miklós Zólyomi (whose father, Dávid Zólyomi, had already owned the estate between 1631 and 1633). In 1663, the owner was accused of intending to usurp the throne, and his property was confiscated. After the Turks captured the Oradea fortress (1660) and turned the region into a vilayet, the Gilău castle became practically an outpost guarding the western border of Transylvania, being mortgaged in 1663 to Dénes Bánffy, who efficiently organized the defense of the Principality’s western ends. Despite Turkish prohibitions, he modernized the castle, which he also used as a residence, and began building his Bonțida castle following the same model. Dénes Bánffy was executed in 1674 following a noble conspiracy, and his property was confiscated. His son, György Bánffy (1661-1708), the future first governor of Transylvania in the Habsburg era, regained the estate and castle, which remained the family’s residence for a long time, considering that the Bonțida castle was still under construction. The Bánffy family continuously owned the castle until 1851.

The castle was destroyed during the Kuruc wars (1703-1711) when it was besieged twice and made uninhabitable. Interestingly, despite this, the Bánffy family remained in Gilău in the 18th century and lived in courtyard houses built not far from the castle until the famous Baroque transformation of the Bonțida castle in the 1740s.

The resurrection of the Gilău castle began at the end of the 18th century when György Bánffy (governor of Transylvania between 1787-1822) started reconstructing the southern part of the eastern wing and the southern wing after renewing the mortgage. According to archival data, the famous Cluj master builder, József Leder, led the work started in 1798 in late Baroque style. During this period, the main entrance was moved further south, a Baroque staircase was built, and the rooms on the upper floor were rearranged.

At the death of György Bánffy in 1822, his estates were divided among his three sons – György, Dénes, and József – with the Gilău estate going to Dénes. Around 1838, Dénes Bánffy began the complete renovation of the castle, still largely in ruins, following contemporary European architectural trends, adopting the Renaissance-inspired Rundbogenstil style, which still defines the castle’s appearance. A significant section of the eastern facade was demolished to create an external loggia facing the newly planted landscaped garden and the entrance alley, the castle moat was filled, and the irremediable northern wing was replaced with a large stable with a granary above. The southwestern tower was rebuilt on a hexagonal plan, and its two-story space was transformed into a new chapel.

The works involved the Viennese master carpenter, Carol Rauch, who later moved to Cluj. The art-loving Dénes Bánffy lived in Gilău until 1850, and his wife stayed for another year in the castle. In his will, he left the property to his granddaughter, Countess Rozália Csáky, wife of György Komáromy. However, she did not live in the castle, renting it to various offices until 1861. In that year, the castle suffered severe damage in a fire, which destroyed the rich library, chapel, and portrait gallery. In this state, the castle was purchased in 1874 by the merchant Bernát Rosenberger, who renovated it in the mid-1880s. The ground-floor rooms of the western wing were converted into warehouses, and new entrances were created accordingly.

After the death of Bernát Rosenberger in 1909, his children sold the property, which returned to the Bánffy family in 1911 when György Bánffy bought the castle as a wedding gift for his daughter, Katinka Bánffy, on the occasion of her marriage to Tamás Barcsay.

Until the nationalization in 1948, the owner remained Countess Kata Bánffy Barcsay, and between 1972 and 2002, the building was used as a school for children with disabilities. According to the restitution law, the property returned to the Barcsay family, who sold it to the current owner in 2014. The research and restoration of the monument took place between 2014 and 2024.