Donggo Mountain Fortress

About this place

Donggo Mountain Fortress is a mountain fortress built during the Unified Silla period, and its name was given when the fortress across the valley was named 'Namgo Mountain Fortress' during the reign of King Sunjo of Joseon. The perimeter is 1,712 m, extending 314 m from east to west and 256 m from north to south — a relatively large mountain fortress. The fortress walls were constructed using the gorge-type encircling (pogok-sik) mountain fortress method. Since ancient times, it has been presumed to be the palace fortress of Wansan-ju, which served as the capital established by King Gyeonhwon, who founded Later Baekje. In an excavation survey conducted in 1990, the site of a building measuring 22 bays in front and 3 bays on the side — totaling 66 bays — was investigated, making it the largest single building excavated in Korea, lending support to the claim that this was King Gyeonhwon's palace fortress.