I've been lucky enough to have received a number of cards from South Korea, and two of them have shown the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Hwaseong Fortress at Suwon.
It was built in the 18th century both for defence and to house the tomb of King Jeongjo's father. I can probably do no better than to quote the back of the card for details:
A distinctive feature of Hwaseong Fortress is that it combines practical functions and beauty together. The castle is a taste of traditional Korean natural stone-masonry and still maintains its integrity. The castle wall has 4 main gates, 2 flood gates, 3 gongsimdons (observation towers), 4 jeokdaes (gateguard platforms), and gangnus (an angle tower), 2 jangdaes (command posts), and nodaes (multiple arrow launcher platforms), 10 chis (bastions), 5 porus (sentry towers), and ammuns (a secret gate), and 5 porus (firearms bastion).
It remains remarkably intact in spite of damage during the Korean War. Restoration and reconstruction work has continued since 1964.
Obviously it's a place I'd love to see but, realistically, I probably never will.
It must be so much fun to receive these postcards from all these unique places. This is a place to see that, I am with you, will probably never see.
ReplyDeleteIt really is fun. I was quite excited by this one. :)
DeleteI am glad that war did not destroy it and that any damage is being repaired. Korea is one country I've missed.
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