Namwoneupseong Walled Town

An eupseong is a walled town that protected the inhabitants of a county or district while serving both military and administrative functions. Under King Sinmun of Silla (r. 681–692), following the reorganisation of local administrative districts, a sogyeong (secondary regional capital) was established in the Namwon area, and this square, flat-land walled town was built in 691. In 1597 the walls were substantially rebuilt and repaired, and raised higher, in preparation for a Japanese invasion. In August of that year a battle was fought here between the combined Joseon–Ming forces and the Japanese army, in which the Japanese suffered a heavy defeat; the graves of the soldiers and residents who died fighting at this time became the Manin-uichong, the Tomb of the Ten Thousand Righteous Dead. Much of the wall was destroyed during the Donghak Peasant War of 1894, and only a small trace of the fortress site remains today. The stone rampart was over 2.4 km long and about 4 m high, and there were more than 70 wells within the walls. Straight main roads crossed the town from north to south and east to west, and narrower straight roads crossed between them, forming a grid-like street layout. As the town developed in the modern era, most of the walls were demolished, but the roads in the town centre still follow this grid pattern today, showing traces of the original street layout within the walls. The walled town has the most typical structure of a Joseon-period eupseong, and it is notable for its large scale, its square and orderly layout — rarely seen in Korean fortifications — and its straight internal streets. The name was changed from "Namwonseong" to "Namwoneupseong Walled Town" by notification on 28 July 2011.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Namwon, Jeonbuk

Designation

Historic Site · 사적