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Hwaseong
Fortress
Originally,the center of Suwon was
located at the foot of Mt.Hwasan, about 8kilometers away to the south from the
current location. As The Great Jeongio of the Joseon Dynasty moved Yungnung
Mausoleum of his father Crown Prince Sadoseja from Mt,Baebongsan in Yangiu 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 Suwon of today. The Great Jeongio launched the
construction of fortress to express his filial piety for his father and to
strengthen the royal authority in the 18th year of his reign (1794)and
completed it after two years in 1796. Hwaseong Fortress were built by Jo
Sim-tae,tea county governor of Hwaseong,under the supervision of Prime Minster
Chae Je-gong, based on the theory of fortress of Yu Hyeong-won and Jeong Yak-yong,
the scholars of the practical school. The most scientific of all the fortress
walls in Korea, ists structures are elaborately arranged, assuming graceful
and majestic aspects. To mention a few special features in the history of
Korean fortification, stone and mud bricks were used in combination, a modern
structure of defense was prepared not only against arrows, spears and
swords,but also against guns, the materials were standardized and the machines
such as the conventional crane were used, and so on. The total length of the
walls is 5.7 kilometers. Various kinds of structures are systematically
arranged, including the gates of Changnyeongmun to the east, Hwaseomun to the
west, Paldalmun to the south and Janganmun to the north, as well as a lot of
towers. A rural palace was built at the foot of Mt.Paldalsan for the king to
stay temporarily while visiting Hyonnyungwon (Yungnung mausoleum of today).
However, the walls have been dilapidated and the structure collapsed with the
lapse of of more than 200 years. Especially, the gate tower was destructed
during the Korean War and reconstructed for three years since 1975. The
section between Paldalmun gate and the southeast tower couldn't be restored
because the city area had already occupied a part of the wall site at that
time. Hwaseong Fortress was registered as the world cultura heritage at the
21st general meeting of the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO held in
Naples on December 4,1997. |