goseongrisanseong (고성리산성)
425 meters above the Donggang River lies one of a series of fortifications which once seemed to demarcate the border between kingdoms. Goseongrisanseong is the northernmost of the three I’ve located thus far, and appears intended to defend the Goguryeo frontier against Silla. Local history makes the same claim, that Goguryeo built the small, 623-meter fortress above the winding, scenic river valley far below. Yet the walls appear of mixed genesis, making the true origin of the fortress a bit of a mystery. Recent excavations have only muddied the waters futher. Still, there are a total of four surviving and reconstructed masonry sections, three of which appear more late Silla than early Goguryeo, though that one section appears textbook Goguryeo. Regardless, it was a rare trip out east into the mountains of Gangwon Province and a relatively easy climb. And, of course, the scenery was incredible!
The trail head starts from a small rest area, complete with its own portable bathrooms, pavilions, and fairly accurate map.
The pavilions are just barely visible from the road and you need to be careful not to miss the turn. But the trail head is visible here just beyond the more modern pavilion.
After a short walk up the hill, the trail takes a sharp turn, but becomes quite easy to follow as it is mostly paved with stone the rest of the way up.
Breaking through the underbrush, this is the first view you get of the fortress and the breathtaking scenery all around. Welcome to the first of four segments!
This first segment is built entirely above ground, roughly four meters high on its inner wall and double that on its outer. This segment compares favorably with late-Silla constructions like Samnyeonsanseong.
From the end of the first segment’s graceful curve, a quick look around reveals the beginning of the second segment, climbing the steep hillside.
This segment is reportedly the best preserved in its original form, though I’ve seen pictures from the renovation and reconstruction period that make me doubt that assertion. As well, the stones here seem a bit too precisely cut for the period.
Not much farther beyond the second segment you quickly trip across the third. To my mind and eye this is Goguryeo fortress construction as we’ve seen at places like Jangmisanseong and other locations, and stretches for the next 120 meters.
The outer wall is a steep drop off, making the wall itself a bit of a manmade cliff crowning an already steep hill, making the fortress quite difficult to assault.
We joked throughout our visit how nice it must have seemed to be stationed in this fortress. The mountains and deep valleys on all sides were simply gorgeous, and we could only wonder at the explosion of color this location must present in a typical Korean autumn!
The third segment essentially disappears into thick brush, but the trail running just inside the wall continues so we did as well.
After a brief walk through the woods, a pretty steep drop-off to the right alleviating the need for manmade walls, we looked up and saw the fourth and final segment.
Like the first and second, it is entirely above ground level, once more raising the question in my mind as to who built it, but it seems that mystery may not be solved any time soon. In fact, archaeological excavations within the fortress seem to be pushing the estimated original construction date backwards, instead of forwards, with some researchers postulating that the site was originally fortified prior to the Three Kingdoms Period. While an interesting possibility, since there were no masonry walls that early, to me it seems more likely that Goguryeo built some of Goseongrisanseong and Silla either added to it or rebuilt collapsed sections during or immediately after their long conflict.
A section of the reconstructed fourth segment recently collapsed, though the damage must have been to the external wall as there was no rubble on the inside, just the typical blue tarps used to ward off additional damage caused by heavy rains, the usual culprit for such collapses.
Reinforcing that notion, the trail that normally runs along the base of the fourth segment’s outer wall had been deemed dangerous and placed off limits.
Completing the circuit brought us to a large, flat area that archaeologists believe once contained buildings within the fortress. As you can see in this and the next photo, however, the whole area is completely overrun in vines, leaving only our imaginations to picture what might have been.
All-in-all, an interesting visit and, frankly, a pretty easy climb. If you’re looking for someplace to visit that’s off the beaten path, you can’t get much more off that path than the highlands of Gangwon Province.