Goryeong Jusanseong

About this place

This is a Gaya mountain fortress built on Jusan Mountain to the west of Goryeong, also known as Isanseong (耳山城). Along the southern ridge of the fortress are distributed tombs of Daegaya, showing their connection with the fortress. It has a double wall: an inner wall of earth built in a round shape along the highest point of the mountain and the eastern ridge, and an outer wall about 700 m in circumference, built of stone in an oval shape starting from the eastern and western ends of the inner wall. Most of the walls have collapsed, but firmly built sections remain on the valley side. The outer wall is now overgrown with dense bamboo, making it difficult to make out the overall outline from a distance, and inside the fortress remain what appear to be a well site and building sites. On a peak connected to the southwest of the outer wall there is another small fortress attached. Inside the fortress, various fragments of Gaya pottery like those excavated from the surrounding tombs, as well as relics from the Unified Silla, Goryeo, and Joseon periods, have been unearthed, showing that the fortress was in use for a long time. As a central fortress site of the ancient Gaya kingdom, it reveals a place of deep historical significance and serves as important material for the study of the fortress-building methods and structures of the time. (Source: Korea Heritage Service)