Deokjinsanseong Fortress, Paju

Deokjinsanseong Fortress, Paju was built by Goguryeo on the ridge of a mountain 85 metres above sea level beside the Imjingang River during its southward expansion, occupying a strategic point that commands a view over the surrounding area. Together with nearby Horogoru, Dangposeong Fortress, and Eundaeriseong Fortress, it formed an important Goguryeo defensive network on the northern bank of the Imjingang River, and is a key site for understanding Goguryeo history and culture. It was subsequently reinforced and rebuilt during the Unified Silla period, and in the Joseon period an outer wall was added after the Imjin War during the reign of King Gwanghaegun; the fortress thus reveals the changing fortress-building techniques from the Three Kingdoms period through Unified Silla to the Joseon period, giving it high historical and academic value. Five rounds of excavation carried out since 2012 confirmed that Goguryeo fortress walls run along the entire 600-metre length of the inner wall. The Goguryeo method of construction was to compact earth to form an earthen core first, then build a stone facing on the front; when building the stone section, split stones or worked stones were packed with clay between them. Deokjinsanseong Fortress, Paju was occupied by Silla around the end of the 7th century, which rebuilt the existing Goguryeo fortress wall as a solid stone wall, and in the 9th century a large-scale repair and reconstruction took place. In the 7th century, the earthen core of the Goguryeo wall was used as the inner part, with gneiss stones worked into rectangular shapes to build the wall face; in the 9th century, worked granite stones were added to the wall. In the Joseon period, during the reign of King Gwanghaegun in the 17th century, an outer wall was added down to the riverbank, built using large stones together with the stones of the Unified Silla wall, with the interior of the wall filled with earth.

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Where it is

Region

Paju, Gyeonggi

Designation

Historic Site · 사적