Little is known about the Candaroğlu dynasty who governed the area around Kastamonu in the 14th and early 15th centuries.
In 1292 their first significant leader, Temür Yaman Candar, took advantage of the chaos that followed the collapse of the Selçuk Empire to establish his own dynasty (beylik) around Kastamonu. Not surprisingly he liked the look of the old castle and had it refortified.
Candar’s descendants dominated the area immediately north of Ankara and west along the Black Sea to Bolu right through until 1462 when, inevitably, Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror came galloping through to establish Ottoman control.
