Gimpo Suansanseong Fortress

Gimpo Suansanseong Fortress is located at the summit (147m) of Suansan Mountain in Daegot-myeon, Gimpo-si, Gyeonggi-do. This area is in the northwestern part of Gimpo, and from the mountain peak, wide views of Incheon, Ganghwa, and Seoul are visible. The fortress has an elongated oval shape running north-south. The remaining fortress wall measures 685m in circumference, but it has been heavily damaged due to the installation of military facilities. The walls are made of stone, meticulously constructed using square or rectangular processed stones laid in regular courses. A cross-section of the wall, visible where it was cut by road construction, confirms that the inner and outer walls and the core were all built using a single-wall construction method with stone. Considering the construction method and artifacts excavated within the fortress, Suansanseong Fortress appears to have been built by Silla in the late 6th century. According to the geography section of the Samguk Sagi (History of the Three Kingdoms), this area was Goguryeo's Suihol (首尒忽). After Silla occupied it, it was called Suihol-hyeon until it was renamed Suseong-hyeon (戍城縣) during the reign of King Gyeongdeok. Later, during the Goryeo period, it changed to Suan-hyeon. Considering this, Suansanseong Fortress may have been built as the administrative fortress of Silla's Suihol-hyeon. Therefore, the original name of Suansanseong Fortress is believed to have been 'Suiholseong' before being renamed 'Suseong'. At the top of Suansanseong Fortress, a Joseon Dynasty beacon site (Suansan Bongsudae) remains. The Suansan beacon received signals from Ganghwa Daemosanseong Fortress and relayed them to Gimpo Baeksanseong Fortress. The beacon site is mostly damaged, with only one of the five beacon mounds remaining.

(Source: National Heritage Administration)