In this study, Fe2O3@ZnO core-shell nanoparticles in spherical and spindle shapes were synthesized in two steps. The products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and UV-vis spectroscopy. The phase analysis results showed that all samples were synthesized with high purity. In all samples, the Fe2O3 cores had a rhombohedral corundum phase and the ZnO shells had a hexagonal phase. The average diameter of the nanoparticles was 47, 28 nm for the spherical samples, and 19 nm for the spindle sample, respectively. These nanoparticles have light absorption in both visible and ultraviolet regions. Also, with increasing ZnO layer thickness, the absorption rate in both regions increases. On the other hand, the absorption rate in the spindle sample is much higher than that of the spherical samples. The optical band gap was found to be 2.63 and 2.79 eV for spherical nanoparticles and 3.07 eV for spindle-shaped nanoparticles. Finally, the photocatalytic performance of Fe2O3@ZnO core-shell nanoparticles in the degradation of Rhodamine B dye as an organic pollutant in aqueous medium was investigated. The results indicate that the spindle-shaped Fe2O3@ZnO core-shell nanoparticles show better performance than the spherical samples with a photocatalytic degradation of approximately 86% in 300 min.