Suwon Hwaseong > Suwon Hwaseong

Originally, the center of Suwon was located at the foot of Mt. Hwasan, about eight kilometers away from its current location. King Jeongjo, the 21st king of the Joseon Dynasty, moved the tomb (Yungneung) of his father Crown Prince Sado from Mt.Baebongsan in Yangju to the current location of Mt. Hwasan in Suwon in the 13th year of his reign (1798). The village and houses below it were moved collectively to the foot of Mt. Paldalsan, forming the beginnings of the Suwon city of today. King Jeongjo launched the fortress construction to express his filial piety for his father and to strengthen the royal authority in the 18th year of his reign (1794). The construction was completed in 1796. Hwaseong Fortress was built by Jo Sim-tae, county governor of Hwaseong, under the supervision of Prime Minister, Chae Je-gong, based on the theories of fortress designs of Yu Hyeong-won and Jeong Yak-yong, scholars of the Practical School. The most scientific of all fortress walls in Korea, its structures are elaborately arranged, assuming graceful and majestic aspects. Noting a few special features of the fortress: stone and mud bricks used in combination were a modern structure of defense that was prepared for not only against arrows spears and swords, but also against guns; these materials were standardized and machines such as conventional cranes were used. Hwaseong Fortress was registered as a World Cultural Heritage at the 21st General Meeting of the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO, held in Naples, Italy on December 4, 1997.: Paldalmun is the Southern Gate of Hwaseong Fortress. This stone structure with its rainbow-shaped arch gateway is surmounted by a two-story wooden pavilion capped with a hipped roof. Paldalmun is unique in that there is a crescent-shaped 'Ongseong' (a secondary defensive wall) built outside the gate to prevent the enemy from attacking the fortress wall.; Poru, a sentry tower, is a partly projecting facility that enables defenders to attack enemies from above, below and either side using firearms and cannons hidden inside.; Poru, a sentry tower, is a partly projecting facility of 8.8m that enables defenders to attack enemies from above, below and either side using firearms and cannons hidden inside. It is located in the southern slope of Paldalsan.; Seojangdae (sometimes called the Hwaseong Jangdae), a two-story traditional edifice, is a military command post located at the highest point of Mt. Paldalsan. It was used by King Jeongjo to direct his soldier when visiting the tomb of his father. The location gave the soldiers a great viewpoint of the overall fortress.; Yongdo practically starts from Seonam Ammun. It becomes a path to Hwayangnu. The arch of the gate was built of bricks and there was a house called posa inside this structure. Seonamposa was above the ammun, which enabled soldiers to keep watch and issue warnings.; Seonodae, which is located behind Hwaseong Jangdae, is a facility to attack the enemies by installing Soenoe (multiple-arrow-launching bow). The upper part of Soenodae is narrow and the lower part is wide and its shape is octagonal.; Also referred to as Hwayangnu, which means a many-storied building in the south. It stands separately in beautiful but remote scenery at a high altitude.; Seobuk Gaknu, which is located on the way to Hwaseomun from Hwaseong Jandae, was a place for military command in emergencies. Also referred to as Hwayangnu, the lookout posts were situated at key points of the fortress.; Hwaseomun is the Western Gate of Hwaseong Fortress. This rainbow-shaped arch gateway is surmounted by a one-story wooden octagonal pavilion surrounded by a stone wall. Hwaseomun also has a crescent-shaped 'Ongseong' but what is different is that one side of the wall is open.; Janganmun is the north gate of the Hwaseong Fortress and the largest of the existing main gates.; Seobuk Gongsimdon was established with the purpose of defending against attacks from the Hwaseomun direction. Three sides of this structure are built of bricks and its center is empty. The center is partitioned into two stories, which enabled soldiers to shoot firearms and canons through holes.; This firearms bastion protrudes 9.3m from the fortress wall. Bukdong Poru is used to shoot canons located in the northeast of the Fortress. The shape of was attached to the castle wall similar to Chiseong and its height was about that of poru. Its structure is similar to gongdon in that the inside of the three-storied architecture is empty.; Bukseoporu, which is located in the north of the Fortress, projects from the castle similar to Chiseong. This is a facility to attack enemies from above, below and either side by concealing firearms in its empty inside similar to Gongsimdon.; Hwahongmun is the North Gate of Hwaseong Fortress which cuts across Suwoncheon (river). The one-story pavilion is set atop seven different-sized stone arches to let the water flow through. Its seven-arched water gates and gentle waterfall at its base makes it one of the designated "Eight Fine Views of Suwon" or Hwahong Gwanchang.; Jeokdae is a facility established to the right and left of the fortress gate to defend against enemies approaching the gate and Ongseong. It is located to the west of Janganmun.; Dongbuk Gaknu (sometimes called Banghwasuryujeong) sits above a pond named Yongyeon, provides great scenery and functions as a strategic position. The pavilion structure is famous for its unique architectural style. Standing at the east side of Hwahongmun, this north-east pavilion demonstrates exquisite beauty.; Ammun is a secret gate located between the main gates. It is usually in a secluded spot not to be found by the enemies and is a very important facility to supply people, farm animals, carts, foods, and munitions and weapons to the Fortress. Bukammun is situated about 50m east of Dongbuk Gaknu.; Chiseong is a simple bastion that protrudes outside to attack against the enemy approaching the fortress. There are eight such bastions in Hwaseong Fortress.; Also called Yeonmudae, it is located in the northeast of the Hwaseong Fortress and faces Changnyongmun. Dongjangdae was a command post on the east side of the Fortress and also a training camp.; Bongdon is an area where a fire or smoke signal originated to convey urgent information to those protecting the fortress and palace. Five torches were used to signal messages. One torch was lit under normal conditions, two at the appearance of an enemy, three when the enemy approached the border, four when the enemy breached the border and five when the enemy attacked.; Dongbuk Gongsimdon is located in the northeast of the Hwaseong Fortress. It is a 6.8m-tall, three-story oval observation tower, another architectural wonder of Hwaseong Fortress. A stairway spirals up the interior wall of the tower from the bottom to the top platform. It is also called Soragak (turban-shell shape) because stones were piled up in round shape, enabling people to go up. Soldiers were able to observe enemy movements and to fire weapons.; Hwaryeongjeon is a shrine housing the portraits of kings, which was constructed in the first year of King Sunjo's reign (1801) and according to the instructions of King Jeongjo.; Changnyongmun is normally called Dongmun and is the east gate of the Hwaseong Fortress. Unlike Janganmun, the gate is not connected to Ongseong and one of the gates is open. It was destroyed during the Korean War but was completely restored in 1975 in accordance with the Hwaseong Seongyeok Uigwe (Archives of the Construction of Hwaseong Fortress).; Hwaseong Haenggung is the largest palace of the Joseon Dynasty which consists of 600 compartments. It was a temporary palace for King Jeongjo during his royal pilgrimage to his father's tomb. In celebrating the 200th anniversary of the construction of the fortress in 1996, phase 1 of the restoration project was completed.; Yeomingak is a bell tower located in the central part of Hwaseong, designated as the World Cultural Heritage by UNDESCO. Bell towers are only established in capital cities. King Jeongjo established Yeomingak to develop Suwon to a capital city status. It was reconstructed in October 2008.