Beacon Station on Geumsan Mountain, Namhae

A beacon station (bongsudae) was an old means of communication used to relay urgent news by means of torch fires and smoke. Signallers climbed to the top of a high mountain and lit fires there, sending signals by smoke during the day and by firelight at night. The Namhae Geumsan Beacon Station, in Sangju-myeon, Namhae-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do, stands on Geumsan Mountain, 681 metres above sea level, and is said to have been established during the reign of King Myeongjong of Goryeo. It is relatively well preserved in its original form: it is square in plan, with a perimeter of 26 metres and a height of 4.5 metres. Of the five national beacon-signal routes of the time, it stood at the southernmost point of the route running from Dongnae to Seoul, and so served as an important starting point. To the east it connected, via the beacon station at Daebang-ri, Changseon-myeon, to Jinju; to the west, via the beacon station at Nam-myeon, to Dolsando Island off Suncheon; and to the north it communicated with the Wonsan beacon station in Idong-myeon. The beacon station was guarded in rotating shifts by two ojang, or squad leaders, and about ten beacon-tenders.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Namhae, Gyeongnam

Designation

Provincial Monument · 시도기념물