Yeongwonsanseong Fortress, Wonju

Yeongwonsanseong Fortress is a stone-walled mountain fortress located on Chiaksan Mountain (1,288m above sea level) in Wonju. The exact date of its construction is not known, but the fortress has long been recognised as a historic site associated with Yang Gil and Gung Ye, leaders of Bugwon, the largest local power at the end of the Silla period. It was also the site where, in 1291, the seventeenth year of King Chungnyeol of Goryeo, Won Chung-gap led the local defence forces to a resounding victory over the invading army of Hapdan; and during the Joseon period, at the time of the Japanese invasion of 1592, it was the tragic scene where the people of the Wonju area, under the command of the magistrate Kim Je-gap, resisted to the last before the fortress fell, with the loss of many officers and soldiers. After this the fortress was maintained for a time as a strategic garrison on the upper Hangang River before falling into ruin. In overall plan the fortress is an irregular, roughly triangular oval, with a total wall length of about 2.4km; substantial stretches survive showing undressed stones stacked neatly course upon course. At the northeast corner a covered passageway was built connecting to a higher peak, forming a tail-like extension; this position was advantageous both for communication with other areas and for observing and attacking enemies approaching along the ridge from the direction of Namdaeryeong Pass. Where the wall changes direction along the ridge, curved bastions were built to defend against enemies advancing along the ridgeline: four on the southeast wall, four on the north wall, and four on the west wall. According to an old record, "Yeongwonseong is a stone-walled fortress with a circumference of 3,749 cheok, and had one well and five springs inside, but it is now in ruins." Within the fortress today survive the sites of the south, north and west gates, and a drainage outlet for water inside the fortress; a projecting bastion was built to the east of the north gate to strengthen its defences. Building sites have also been identified at several points inside the fortress, and three charcoal kilns survive. The artefacts recovered are ceramics and roof tiles used during the Goryeo and Joseon periods, limited in both type and quantity. The most distinctive feature of this fortress is that, although the main wall and the parapet are clearly distinguished in construction, they cannot be told apart on the outer face of the wall, and that the parapet has no arrow-loops. In its construction method, too, it presents a fully preserved and highly typical example of Korean mountain-fortress building technique: its siting, its use of the connecting passageway, the complete survival of its parapets, and the structure of its gates and bastions best reveal the characteristics of a Goryeo-period mountain fortress. Yeongwonsanseong Fortress, Wonju, is academically valuable as a fortress that clearly displays the features of a medieval mountain fortress, including parapets, bastions and gates, and historically valuable as the scene of fierce battles during wars of the Goryeo and Joseon periods, making it a precious site for historical education.

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Where it is

Region

Wonju, Gangwon

Designation

Historic Site · 사적