Yeongchuksanseong Fortress, Changnyeong

This is a mountain fortress on Yeongchuksan Mountain, which uses a natural rock face along the ridge, shaped like a folding screen, as its north wall, and encloses the mountaintop while taking in the valley to the south-west within its walls. The circumference of the fortress is about 1,500 m, with a height of about 3 m and a width of about 4.5 m. The narrow valley to the south served as the fortress gate, and in the lower ground to either side the walls were built of natural stones; the fortress follows the ridge, making full use of the high rock faces, so that seen from the front it looks almost like an isosceles triangle. The north and east sides are relatively intact, but the west side has collapsed through natural weathering. This area was the border region between the old kingdoms of Silla and Gaya, and as war broke out frequently it is presumed that Gaya built the fortress to defend against Silla's incursions. It is also said to have been the site of fierce fighting against Japanese forces during the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598). The Yeongsan-gun-ji, a gazetteer of Yeongsan county, records that in 1875 the magistrate (hyeon-gam) Kim Bong-su repaired this mountain fortress. Given the old tombs found in the surrounding area, it is presumed that this fortress remained in continuous use from the Three Kingdoms period through to the Joseon period.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Changnyeong, Gyeongnam

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료