Gabaeryang Garrison Fort, Geoje

Gabaeryang Garrison Fort was built in 1490, the twenty-first year of King Seongjong, and served as the fortress of the Gyeongsang Right Naval Headquarters in the early Joseon period; it was one of Geoje's seven garrisons (jin). Lying on the route to Geoje — one of two sea lanes that divide around Hansando Island, one leading to Tongyeong and the other to Geoje — the site was strategically vital, and from 1425, the seventh year of King Sejong, to 1601, the twenty-fourth year of King Seonjo, it served as the Gyeongsang Right Naval Headquarters and as the headquarters of the Naval Commander-in-Chief of the Three Provinces, giving it great historical significance. Records state that after Yi Sun-sin was appointed Naval Commander-in-Chief of the Three Provinces during the Imjin War, in 1593, the sixteenth year of King Seonjo, and established the main headquarters of the Three Provinces' Naval Command on Hansando Island, this fort was rebuilt and extended on a larger scale than before. After the Imjin War the Three Provinces' Naval Command was moved to the Gyeongsang Right Naval Headquarters fortress here in Geoje, then in 1601, the twenty-fourth year of King Seonjo, it was moved again from Geoje to Goseong, and three years later to its present location in Tongyeong. It was at this point that the Gabaeryang Garrison, previously at Goseong, was relocated here, and from then it was called Gabaeryang Garrison Fort. It subsequently functioned as a key coastal defence post until the garrison system was abolished in 1894, the thirty-first year of Emperor Gojong, in the course of the Gabo Reforms. The outside of the fortress was built of stone and the inside banked with earth. Records indicate that the fortress wall was 794 m in circumference and 4 m high, though only 146 m of wall now survives. Traces of the moat that once encircled the fortress have been identified, along with the site of a watchtower (mangdae) to the south. The Gyeongsang Right Naval Headquarters was the base of the Gyeongsang Right Naval Command, which defended the western coast of Gyeongsangnam-do, including present-day Geoje, Changwon and Tongyeong. A jin was a naval garrison of the Joseon period; Geoje had seven such garrisons. The Naval Commander-in-Chief of the Three Provinces was the regional commander-in-chief of naval forces who directed and commanded the navies of the three provinces, comprising the Gyeongsang Left and Right Naval Headquarters, the Jeolla Left and Right Naval Headquarters, and the Chungcheong Naval Headquarters. A mangdae was a raised post built to observe the enemy or watch the surroundings.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Geoje, Gyeongnam

Designation

Provincial Monument · 시도기념물