Hoamsanseong Fortress

About this place

A fortress from the Silla period of the Three Kingdoms era, located on Gwanaksan Mountain, it can be visited together with cultural properties such as Hanumul (the Grand Well) and the stone dog statue, as well as Hoapsa, a traditional temple that is one of the courses on the Gwanaksan circuit trail. Hoamsanseong is a peak-encircling (tewoe-style) mountain fortress of the Unified Silla period built around the mountain ridge; its circumference is 1,250 m, of which traces of the wall remain along a stretch of about 300 m. Hanumul is a pond 22 m long and 12 m wide at the summit of Hoamsan, its four sides built up with granite, and it bears the alternative name Yongbo (Dragon Weir). It is said that rain rituals were held there in times of drought and that it was kept ready for military use in wartime. The exact date this pond-shaped well was made is unknown, but excavation for repairs revealed that a pond made in the Three Kingdoms period lay buried beneath the present pond, and that over it a stone-piled pond, misaligned with the earlier one, was built again in the early Joseon period. The Joseon-period stone-piled site of Hanumul measures 22 m east–west, 12 m north–south, and 1.2 m deep, and the Unified Silla stone-lined site beneath it was also confirmed. At another well site, a bronze spoon inscribed with the words 'Ingbeornaeryeokjinaemi' (仍伐內力只內未) was found. Near the well site a dog-shaped animal statue (a stone-beast statue, 1.7 m long, 0.9 m wide, and 1.0 m high) was discovered, which appears to be related to the legend that it was erected to prevent fires from breaking out in Seoul during the Joseon period. Near Hanumul, a stone inscribed 'Seokguji' (石拘池) was found, and it seems this pond came to be called Seokguji in connection with the stone-beast statue.