Gongsanseong Fortress

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Korean spelling
Korean alphabet : 공산성
Revised Romanization : Gongsanseong
McCune-Reischauer : Kongsansŏng
Map of Gongju from 1872

The fortress Gongsanseong ( Korean : 공주 공산성 ) is a fortress with a royal palace from the Ungjin period of the Kingdom of Baekje ( 백제 ), located in the southwest of the Korean Peninsula , which is now part of South Korea .

In January 1963, the complex was placed under a preservation order as the 12th culturally significant site of national importance in South Korea and was added to the list of World Heritage Sites by UNESCO on July 4, 2015 under the title: " Baekje Historic Areas " .

geography

The Gongsanseong Fortress is located on a small mountain with two equally high, 110  m high elevations, directly on the bank of the Geumgang River ( 금강 ), northeast of the city center of Gongju ( 공주시 ) in the Chungcheongnam-do Province ( 충청남도 ). The facility covers an area of ​​20.31 hectares. A 21.02  hectare protection zone surrounds the area and thus covers the rest of the small mountain.

Map showing the location of Gongsanseong Fortress, the Songsan-ri Royal Tombs and the National Museum

The fortress wall has a length of 2660  m , of which 1925  m is a stone wall and 735  m is an earth wall. The palace was on an area of ​​7000 m 2 , on the city-facing side in the southern part of the complex, while those serving the palace were housed north of it on the bank of the Geumgang. This part comprised around 40,000 m 2 .

The main entrance to the fortress is now in the west of the complex. The main entrance gate is also located here.

history

After the soldiers of King Jangsu ( 장수왕 ) (394–491) of Goguryeo ( 고구려 ) took parts of northern Baekje in AD 475, occupied the capital Hanseong ( 한성 ) and killed King Gaero ( 개로왕 ) (? –475) , his younger brother King Munju ( 문주왕 ) (? -477) decided as his successor to move the seat of government and thus the capital of the empire to Ungjin ( 웅진 ), today's Gongju , in the same year .

The advantage that Ungjin had was the protection to the north from the Geumgang River, which came from the east and formed a right-angled arc to the southwest around the city. The mountain on the river gave the palace further protection. With the relocation of the capital to Ungjin, the fortress construction began around the palace. During the 64-year determination, the fortress was named Ungjinseong ( 웅진성 ).

After the capital of Baekje was moved in 538 AD by King Seong ( 성왕 ) (523–554) to Sabi ( 사비 ), today's Buyeo ( 부여 ), the fortress Gongsanseong was used as an administrative facility to protect the northern part of the To control the kingdom. After the fall of Baekje in 660 AD, the fortress was used as the administrative seat of the Ungcheon-ju ( 웅천 주 ) district of the United Silla . During the time of the Goryeo dynasty (918–1392) ( 고려 ) the fortress was named Gongjusanseong ( 공주 산성 ) and was the seat of the governor of Ungjin. In the Joseon period (1392–1910) ( 조선 ) the fortress was called Ssangsusanseong ( 쌍수 산성 ) and was briefly the seat of government of King Injo ( 인조 ) (1595–1649) during the uprising in 1624.

Archaeological research

Yeongdongnu, East Gate Pavilion, photo from 2008

The first inventory of historical buildings and facilities was made in 1909, while Korea was under the protectorate of the Japanese Empire , by the Japanese architect Tadashi Sekino . However, it was not until the 1980s that systematic archaeological investigations were carried out on the grounds of the fortress.

A total of 27 excavations were carried out from 1980 to 2013. The fortress character of the complex was determined, parts of the palace, various buildings, a pond and water storage facilities were discovered. They all came from the Baekje period.

Most of the earth walls, which came from the Baekje period, were reinforced with stone structures or replaced by them during the Joseon period.

Excavations, which began in 2005 in the area of ​​the service and ancillary buildings assigned to the palace and continued in 2011 and 2012, uncovered 15 building floor plans, various stairs, streets, water storage and drainage systems over an area of ​​around 6300 m 2 . In addition to various other objects in a water tank u. a. lacquered leather armor from AD 645, iron armor, armor for a horse and a long sword were found. A 3.2 × 3.5 m and 2.6 m deep storage facility, in which the wooden walls were extremely well preserved, could also be exposed.

Public access

Pond in the fortress

97.6% of the fortress is state owned, the rest is privately owned. Nevertheless, with the exception of a few festive days, the entire fortress can be visited all year round during normal opening times. Between 2008 and 2012, around 220,000 visitors came on average.

literature

  • Republic of Korea (Ed.): Nomination of Baekje Historic Areas . For Inscription on the World Heritage List . Seoul 2015, ISBN 978-89-299-0345-9 (English, online PDF 323 MB [accessed September 12, 2015]).

Web links

Commons : Gongsanseong  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Nomination of Baekje Historic Areas . Seoul 2015, p.  135 .
  2. ↑ Korea: Baekjes historical sites listed as UNESCO World Heritage. In: Visit Korea . Korea Tourism Organization , accessed September 16, 2015 .
  3. ↑ Nomination of Baekje Historic Areas . Seoul 2015, p.  46 .
  4. ↑ Nomination of Baekje Historic Areas . Seoul 2015, p.  79 .
  5. ↑ a b c Nomination of Baekje Historic Areas . Seoul 2015, p.  83 .
  6. ↑ Nomination of Baekje Historic Areas . Seoul 2015, p.  45 .
  7. ↑ Nomination of Baekje Historic Areas . Seoul 2015, p.  91 .
  8. ↑ Nomination of Baekje Historic Areas . Seoul 2015, p.  92 .
  9. ↑ Gongsanseong Fortress . Baekje Historic Areas Conservation and Management Foundation , accessed September 16, 2015 .
  10. ^ Limb Jae-un: Baekje Kingdom resurrected after 1,400 years . Korea.net , September 25, 2014, accessed September 16, 2015 .
  11. ↑ Nomination of Baekje Historic Areas . Seoul 2015, p.  166/168 .
  12. ↑ Nomination of Baekje Historic Areas . Seoul 2015, p.  159 .

Coordinates: 36 ° 27 '43 "  N , 127 ° 7' 38"  E