Chilgok Gasansanseong Fortress

About this place

The Chilgok Gasansanseong is a Joseon-period stone fortress built using a mountain valley. The inner fortress was completed in 1640, the outer fortress in 1700, and the middle fortress in 1741; the Chilgok Dohobu (military district) was established within. Based on the installation of a guesthouse (gaksa), Inhwagwan, administrative offices, military officers' quarters, observation platforms (boru), and command positions (jangdae) inside the walls, it is presumed that the fortress was constructed for military purposes rather than administrative ones. The Chilgok Gasanbaui is a large rock on the northwest side of the fortress. Also known as Gaam or Gaesanam, it is a rock that rises sharply on all four sides. At the top of the rock is a wide flat area open on all sides, from which one can see the entire panorama of Daegu Metropolitan City. At the rock's summit is a deep hole; legend says that the great Buddhist monk Doseon of the Unified Silla period buried an iron ox and horse in this hole to control the energy of the land, but the provincial governor Yi Myeongeung had them removed while building the fortress. The Chilgok Gasansanseong hiking trail follows a course that ascends Gasanbong peak and Gasanbaui rock.