Deok Jusanseong Fortress, Jecheon

Deok Jusanseong Fortress, on the south side of Woraksan Mountain in Jecheon, Chungcheongbuk-do, is a stone mountain fortress built during the Unified Silla period, consisting of an inner and an outer wall. Occupying a strategic point that blocked the road linking Mungyeong and Chungju, the fortress functioned as a barrier fortress; it is said that in 1256, the forty-third year of King Gojong of Goryeo, when the Mongol army attacked Chungju, clouds, wind and hail suddenly poured down, and the enemy troops fled, believing the land to be protected by the gods. It is also said that, in the late Joseon period, Empress Myeongseong, anticipating defeat in her power struggle with Heungseon Daewongun, had a gate built here to prepare a hiding place. The wall, which once measured 32,670 cheok (9,800m) in circumference, has almost entirely collapsed, but three gates built in the Joseon period — the South, East and North Gates — survive. The South Gate is an arched hongyemun gate built in a rainbow shape on the road leading from Dongchang to Mungyeong, flanked by stone walls built as a double layer of inner and outer courses, 100 gan in length. The East Gate, at the entrance to Deokjugol Valley, is similar to the South Gate, while the North Gate, standing among the houses of Saeteo village, has arches on both the inside and outside, with a taegeuk (yin–yang) symbol carved on its keystone. Deokjusanseong Fortress has five layers of inner and outer walls, each built at a different time, making it highly valuable material for study.

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Where it is

Region

Jecheon, Chungbuk

Designation

Provincial Monument · 시도기념물