The Anju Castle is a military fortress built during the

Goguryeo Goguryeo (37 BC–668 AD) ( ) also called Goryeo (), was a Korean kingdom located in the northern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula and the southern and central parts of Northeast China. At its peak of power, Goguryeo controlled mos ...

kingdom, later rebuilt during

Joseon Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and ...

era. It is located in

Anju City Anju-si () is a city in the South P'yŏngan province of North Korea. Its population was 240,117 in 2008. The Ch'ongch'on River passes through Anju. 200px, Sinanju Chongnyon station in the western part of Anju Climate Administrative divisions ...

South Phyongan Province South Pyongan Province (Phyŏngannamdo; ) is a province of North Korea. The province was formed in 1896 from the southern half of the former Pyongan Province, remained a province of Korea until 1945, then became a province of North Korea. Its ca ...

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and ...

. It was built after the capital was moved to Pyongyang, as a northern defense point.

Details

The fortress consists of three parts, all built at different periods; an inner fort, an outer fort and a new fort. The inner fort dates from the Goguryeo period; it has walls along the ridge of the Kadu range on the shore of the Chongchon River. These walls were 7-8 metres high from the level ground and 4-5 metres on the slope of the hills, 6500 metres long. The outer fort was built during Joseon period; it is 3 650 metres long. The new fort is over 550 metres long and was built in the 17th Century. The fort was rebuilt several times during the

Goryeo Goryeo (; ) was a Korean kingdom founded in 918, during a time of national division called the Later Three Kingdoms period, that unified and ruled the Korean Peninsula until 1392. Goryeo achieved what has been called a "true national unifica ...

and the Joseon periods. Inside the fort were large ponds full of water. The largest of them called the Chilsong Pond, “which was studded with seven tiny islets resembling the Great Bear” (constellation). The fort features north, south, east and west gates, each built on a stone foundation with an archway and a gatehouse. The gates of the Fortress had remained relatively undisturbed until the end of the Joseon; most of the gates and walls were pulled down during the Japanese colonial period. Only the archway of the east gate of the outer fort remains as originally constructed. The fortress suffered damage during the

Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top: ...

, but was rebuilt in 1977.

References

{{coord missing, North Korea National Treasures of North Korea Buildings and structures in Pyongyang Archaeological sites in North Korea Goguryeo fortresses