Juk Jusanseong Fortress

Juk Jusanseong Fortress stands on a peak 250m above sea level, adjoining the eastern side of Bibongsan Mountain (391m above sea level). From the fortress, the view to the west is blocked by Bibongsan Mountain, but the other directions command a distant prospect. Juk Jusanseong consists of an inner wall, a middle wall and an outer wall; it shares part of its original wall and was continuously repaired through the Goryeo and Joseon periods. The original wall appears to have been built along the ridge from the summit, enclosing the valley below. The wall has a circumference of 1,322m, making it one of the largest fortresses of the Three Kingdoms period. Its foundation was levelled in a stepped fashion, and the inner face, outer face and core fill were all built of stone; the stones were dressed into rectangular blocks and laid up in level courses, rising nearly vertically, with a supplementary reinforcing wall added onto the outer face. This construction technique indicates that Juk Jusanseong was built by Silla in the late sixth to early seventh century. When Mongol forces attacked Juk Jusanseong in the twenty-third year of King Gojong of Goryeo (1236), General Song Mun-ju, the defence commissioner of Jukju, fought for fifteen days and repelled the enemy; at this time the wall originally built in the Three Kingdoms period appears to have been repaired. During the Joseon period too, the forces of Generals Byeon Yi-jung and Hwang Jin fought and won at this fortress during the Japanese invasions of 1592–98 (the Imjin War), and repairs continued to be carried out afterwards. At this time some construction techniques from Japanese-style fortresses (waeseong) are known to have been applied: the slope of the outer wall face became gentler, and in particular large corner stones were used at Namchiseong (the southern bastion), suggesting imitation of Japanese fortress-building methods. However, features characteristic of Japanese-style fortresses, such as the layout of multiple curved enclosures or the distinctive structure of their gates, were not adopted. Juk Jusanseong can be called a treasure trove of Korean fortress-building history, preserving construction techniques from several different periods.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Anseong, Gyeonggi

Designation

Provincial Monument · 시도기념물