Savoring night views from a World Heritage fortress | Travel Course | K-Travel Mate

Namhanseong Provincial Park encompasses Namhanseong Fortress, one of the four major fortresses that protected Hanyang (present-day Seoul). The four fortresses surrounded the capital: Gaeseong to the north, Suwon to the south, Ganghwa to the west, and Gwangju to the east, where Namhanseong Fortress is located. It is situated on Namhan Mountain, 24 km southeast of Seoul and 6 km northeast of Seongnam City. The fortress walls extend a total of 12.4 km (main fortress 8.9 km, outer fortress 3.2 km, Sin Nam fortress 0.2 km), with a height of 7.3 meters. Historically, it is recorded as being King Onjo’s royal castle over 2,000 years ago (King Dongmyeong of Goguryeo's son and the founder of Baekje). Also, during the Silla–Tang War in the 13th year of King Munmu of Silla (673), a castle called Jujangseong was built in Hansanju. Utilizing this ancient site, the fortress was repeatedly repaired and rebuilt by later generations, with extensive construction during the reign of King Gwanghaegun of Joseon (1621). The stone walls of Namhanseong are about 12 km in circumference, constructed with natural stones laid with larger stones at the bottom and smaller stones on top. There were four gates and gatepavilions (munru) on each cardinal direction, 16 secret gates (ammun), and four watchtowers (jangdae) built on the east, west, south, and north sides. Inside the fortress, the Suo Office was established alongside government offices, warehouses, and the temporary royal palace (haenggung). The haenggung consisted of 252 rooms in total: 73 in the upper palace, 154 in the lower palace, and 26 in the left quarters. Eighty wells and 45 springs were created, and the administrative office of Gwangju-eup was relocated inside the fortress. The fortress’s importance and its capacity to accommodate residents can be inferred. In the first military exercise after the fortress’s construction (Injo 17th year, 1639), 12,700 troops participated. Currently, only a few buildings remain within the fortress, including the East and South Gates, West Jangdae, Hyeonjeolsa, Yeonmugwan, Janggyungsa, Jisudang, Yeongwoljeong, Chimkwaejeong, Sungnyeoljeon General Yi Seo’s shrine, walls, towers, and ramparts. Among these, the four main gates, Suwojangdae, and parts of the fortress wall near the West Gate are well preserved in their original form. Namhanseong is designated as a historic site and provincial park.

Su-eojangdae is a pavilion built for military purposes of command and observation and is the only one remaining among the five jangdae (Dongjangdae, Seojangdae, Namjangdae, Bukjangdae, Oedongjangdae) that were in Namhansanseong. It is located at the summit of Cheongryangsan (482m above sea level) and is the most splendid and grand building remaining inside the fortress. The lower floor is a two-story pavilion with a hipped-and-gabled roof style, with 5 bays on the front and 3 bays on the side on the lower floor, and 3 bays on the front and 2 bays on the side on the upper floor. The roof has eaves on both upper and lower floors, with tosu at the rafter ends, yongdu on the eaves ridge, and chwijdu on the main ridge. The pillars of the building are placed on octagonal Jangju base stones 60cm high, and the bracket system is in Jusimpo style with two-tiered chulmok and Ikgong. In the 27th year of King Yeongjo's reign (1751), the pavilion was enlarged to two stories, and plaques reading ‘Su-eojangdae (守禦將臺)’ on the exterior and ‘Mumangru (無忘樓)’ on the interior were produced and installed. (Source: Gyeonggi-do Namhansanseong World Heritage Center)

Dandae-dong Chicken Porridge Village is an area in Dandae-dong, Sujeong-gu, Seongnam-si, where restaurants specializing mainly in chicken porridge are concentrated. Originally, this chicken porridge village was established at the entrance of the Namhansanseong recreational area in Seongnam, but as the nearby Gwangju Daedan Complex was developed, people who relocated operated poultry farms and began selling chicken porridge. With the Namhansanseong maintenance project, the chicken porridge village at the recreational area entrance was demolished, and Seongnam City relocated some restaurants to the current Dandae-dong to continue operation. The chicken porridge here is popular because, unlike baeksuk from other regions, it is boiled with plenty of glutinous rice, ginseng, jujube, chestnuts, and other ingredients, making it good for health restoration.