A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates for access to the city. From ancient to modern times, they were used to enclose settlements. Generally, these are referred to as city walls or town walls, although there were also walls, such as the Great Wall of China, Walls of Benin, Hadrian's Wall, Anastasian Wall, and the Atlantic Wall, which extended far beyond the borders of a city and were used to enclose regions or mark territorial boundaries. In mountainous terrain, defensive walls such as letzis were used in combination with castles to seal valleys from potential attack. Beyond their defensive utility, many walls also had important symbolic functions – representing the status and independence of the communities they embraced.
Sabi was the third and final capital of the Korean kingdom of Baekje, from 538 until Baekje’s fall in 660 CE. The site of Sabi is located in modern-day Buyeo County, South Chungcheong Province, in South Korea.
Cheongju is the capital and largest city of North Chungcheong Province in South Korea.
Namhansanseong (Korean: 남한산성) is a historical mountain fortress city 25 km southeast of Seoul, South Korea. It sits approximately 480 m above sea level and is aligned with the ridges of the mountain for maximum defensibility. The fortress, stretching 12 km in length, protects a vast area used as an emergency capital city during the Joseon Dynasty of Korea (1392–1910). The design is based on fortress architecture of East Asia, embodying aspects of four historical cultural styles: the Joseon of Korea, the Azuchi-Momoyama Period of Japan, and Ming and Qing China.
Achasanseong Fortress is an earthen mountain fortress dating from the Korean Three Kingdoms period. Originally built by Baekje, it was occupied in turn by each of the Three Kingdoms. It stands on Achasan Mountain, in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, South Korea, at an altitude of 200 meters above sea level. It has a perimeter of roughly 1 kilometer and an area of about 3375 m2.
Earthen Fortification in Pungnap-dong, Seoul is a flat earthen wall built at the edge of the Han River in Korea. It has a circumference of 3.5 km. It is located in modern-day Pungnap-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul. It used to be included in the neighboring city of Gwangju. It has a long oval shape, spreading to north and south, and leaning slightly toward the east. Based on research conducted during the Japanese occupation, it has been speculated that Pungnap Toseong was Hanam Wiryeseong, the first capital of Baekje.
Korean architecture refers to an architectural style that developed over centuries in Korea. Throughout the history of Korea, various kingdoms and royal dynasties have developed a unique style of architecture with influences from Buddhism and Korean Confucianism.
The history of Seoul can be traced back as far as 18 BC, although humans have occupied the area now known as Seoul since the Paleolithic Age. It has been the capital of numerous kingdoms on the Korean Peninsula since it was established.
The Grianan of Aileach, sometimes anglicised as Greenan Ely or Greenan Fort, is a hillfort atop the 244 metres (801 ft) high Greenan Mountain at Inishowen in County Donegal, Ireland. The main structure is a stone ringfort, thought to have been built by the Northern Uí Néill, in the sixth or seventh century CE; although there is evidence that the site had been in use before the fort was built. It has been identified as the seat of the Kingdom of Ailech and one of the royal sites of Gaelic Ireland. The wall is about 4.5 metres (15 ft) thick and 5 metres (16 ft) high. Inside it has three terraces, which are linked by steps, and two long passages within it. Originally, there would have been buildings inside the ringfort. Just outside it are the remains of a well and a tumulus.
Hwaseong Fortress or Suwon Hwaseong is a fortification surrounding the centre of Suwon, the provincial capital of Gyeonggi Province, in South Korea. It was built from 1794 to 1796 by King Jeongjo of the Joseon dynasty to house and honour the remains of his father, Prince Sado. Sado had been executed by being locked alive inside a rice chest by his own father King Yeongjo after failing to obey a command to commit suicide. Located 30 kilometres (19 mi) south of Seoul and enclosing much of central Suwon, the fortress includes King Jeongjo's palace Haenggung. The fortress and enclosed palace were designated as a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1997. It comprises among many other features the palace, a perimeter wall, four main gates, and two sluicegates over the Suwoncheon, Suwon's main stream, which flows through the centre of the fortress.
Tourism in South Korea and its industry caters to both foreign and domestic tourists. In 2019, 17.5 million foreign tourists visited South Korea, making it the 20th most visited country in the world. Most non-Korean tourists come from other parts of East Asia such as Japan, mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. The recent popularity of Korean popular culture, often known as the "Korean Wave", in these countries has increased tourist arrivals.
Samnyeon Sanseong Fortress is the ruins of a Silla fortress and wall that was built beginning in the year 470. The fortress was reconstructed in 486. The ruins are located in present-day Boeun, South Korea. During the Three Kingdoms Period the town of Boeun-eup, located two kilometers from the fortress, was known as Samnyeon-gun or Samnyeonsan-gun and it is believed by some that the fortress gets its name from the town. However, the Samguk Sagi relates that the fortress was completed in three years, and that the fortress derived its name from this fact. This account also suggests that the nearby town derived its name from the fortress, rather than vice versa. The Annals of Joseon Dynasty show that the fortress was known as Ojeong Sanseong Fortress and was used during the Joseon Dynasty, probably because the fortress is located atop Mount Ojeongsan.
The Tomb of King Muryeong, also known as Songsan-ri Tomb No. 7, is the ancient tumulus of King Muryeong, who ruled the Baekje from 501 to 523, and his queen. The rarity of intact Baekje tombs makes this one of the major archaeological discoveries in Korea and a crucial source for the understanding of Baekje, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea.
Ki castle was an ancient kōgoishi type castle (also known as a Korean-style fortresses in Japan located in the city of Sōja, Okayama Prefecture, Japan. Its ruins have been protected as a National Historic Site since 1986. Portions of the castle were reconstructed in the early 2000s.
Seoul, officially Seoul Special City, and formerly known as Hanseong and Keijō, is the capital of the Republic of Korea (ROK), commonly known as South Korea, and the country's most extensive urban center. The broader Seoul Capital Area, encompassing Gyeonggi province and Incheon metropolitan city, emerged as the world's fourth largest metropolitan economy in 2014, trailing only Tokyo, New York City, and Los Angeles, hosting more than half of South Korea's population. Although Seoul's population peaked at slightly over 10 million, it has gradually decreased since 2014, standing at approximately 9.97 million residents as of 2020. Seoul is the seat of the South Korean government.
The Walled City of Jajce is a medieval fortified nucleus of Jajce in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with Jajce Citadel high above town on top of pyramidal-shaped steep hill, enclosed with approximately 1,300 metres (4,300 ft) long defensive walls,. It is one of the best preserved fortified capitals of the Bosnian Kingdom, the last stronghold before the kingdom dissolved under the pressure of military advancement at the onset of Ottoman Empire takeover.
Bač Fortress is a medieval fortress in Vojvodina, Serbia. It is located in the town of Bač, in the Bačka region.
Blagaj Fortress or Old Town of Blagaj, locally known as Stjepan-grad (Стјепан-град), or Stipan-grad, in classical times Bona (Бона), is a town-fortress complex near the town of Blagaj, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The old Blagaj Fort was built on a high, inaccessible karst hill, at an elevation of 310 metres (1,020 ft) above sea level and 266 metres (873 ft) above the source of the river Buna. Blagaj Fort is 275 metres (902 ft) above sea level. Fortress is National monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina, declared by KONS on 6 December 2003.
The Bukhansanseong is a fortress located in Gyeonggi Province and Seoul, South Korea, dating back to the middle Joseon period. The present fort was completed in 1711, though plans for the structure date back to 1659. The name is also given to a fortress mentioned in the Samguk Sagi, constructed by Gaeru of Baekje in 132 CE, and the two are often conflated although the putative connection is contested.
The Baekje Historic Areas are a group of monuments located in three South Korean cities: Gongju, Buyeo, and Iksan. They relate to the last period of the Baekje Kingdom, representing the period from 475 to 660 CE, which was one of the three kingdoms that flourished from 18 BC to 660 CE. The property designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site has eight archaeological sites. These are: The Gongsanseong fortress and the royal tombs at Songsan-ri, related to the capital city of Ungjin, now Gongju; the Busosanseong Fortress and Gwanbuk-ri administrative buildings, the Jeongnimsa Temple, the Neungsan-ri royal tombs, and the Naseong city wall in Sabi, now Buyeo; and the Wanggung-ri Palace and the Mireuksa Temple in Iksan, a subsidiary capital region of Sabi.
