Achasanseong () is a

Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu dominated China from AD 220 to 280 following the end of the Han dynasty. This period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and followed by the Jin dynasty (266–420), Western Jin dyna ...

-era earthen Korean fortress on the mountain

Achasan Achasan () is a hill that sits between the counties of Gwangjin District and Guri in South Korea. It has an elevation of . There is an extensive system of trails on the Achasan and Yongsan mountains with numerous entrances. People often hike fr ...

, in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, South Korea. Originally built by

Baekje Baekje or Paekche (; ) was a Korean kingdom located in southwestern Korea from 18 BCE to 660 CE. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla. While the three kingdoms were in separate existence, Baekje had the h ...

, it was occupied in turn by each of the Three Kingdoms. It is at an altitude of 200 meters above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

. It has a

perimeter A perimeter is the length of a closed boundary that encompasses, surrounds, or outlines either a two-dimensional shape or a one-dimensional line. The perimeter of a circle or an ellipse is called its circumference. Calculating the perimet ...

of roughly 1 kilometer and an

area Area is the measure of a region's size on a surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while '' surface area'' refers to the area of an open surface or the boundary of a three-di ...

of about 3375 m². The first mention of this fortress in historical records comes from the ''

Samguk sagi ''Samguk sagi'' () is a historical record of the Three Kingdoms of Korea: Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla. Completed in 1145, it is well-known in Korea as the oldest surviving chronicle of Korean history. The ''Samguk sagi'' is written in Classical ...

s statement that King Chaekgye of Baekje ordered it to be fortified against an expected

Goguryeo Goguryeo (37 BC – 668 AD) (; ; Old Korean: Guryeo) also later known as Goryeo (; ; Middle Korean: 고ᇢ롕〮, ''kwòwlyéy''), was a Korean kingdom which was located on the northern and central parts of the Korea, Korean Peninsula an ...

invasion. At that time, Achasanseong would have played a key role in the defense of the Baekje capital Hansŏng from the north. In 475, Goguryeo overran this and the other defenses of Baekje, and King Gaero of Baekje was brought to Acha and executed. The fortress and the rest of the Han River valley were conquered by

Silla Silla (; Old Korean: wikt:徐羅伐#Old Korean, 徐羅伐, Yale romanization of Korean, Yale: Syerapel, Revised Romanization of Korean, RR: ''Seorabeol''; International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: ) was a Korean kingdom that existed between ...

in 553. The Goguryeo general Ondal later died here while trying to reclaim the fortress. Achasanseong was designated as a historic landmark in 1973, and has since become a common local tourist destination.

References

External links

Tourist information from the Gwangjin-gu district government
{{Asia-archaeology-stub Gwangjin District Archaeological sites in South Korea Castles in South Korea Historic Sites of South Korea

See also

References

External links