Suwon Part 2: Fortress Wall

It is very difficult to find something to follow up a visit to a toilet museum.  Pretty much anything you do after walking around a toilet shaped building will be a let down.  But the original reason for us making the trip to Suwon was the hike around the fortress wall.  So, after the museum that is where we headed.  

You may remember me writing about the Seoul Fortress wall in a few different posts, the Suwon Fortress wall is a smaller version of the Seoul wall.  The actual name for the Suwon fortress wall is Hwaseong Fortress, it was constructed between 1794-1796 and is about 3.5 miles around.  It goes over 1 small mountain and right through the middle of the city.  It was a great hike and we had a lot of fun reading about the history and taking pictures at different parts of the wall.

We started at the bottom of the mountain and hiked straight up the stone steps.  At the top we had some great views of the city.

 There are 10 lookout posts at different points in the wall.  According to the signs, these turret-like protruding sections were placed at regular intervals along the wall so that defenders could protect the wall and drive back approaching enemies.  The lookouts are called "chi" which means pheasant in Korean because pheasants are adept at hiding in the grass and and remaining watchful. 

Along with the 10 lookout posts there are 4 main gates in the wall and 4 secret gates.  The secret gates were used to bring goods and supplies into the city.  The secret gates were much smaller then the main gates, but still very large.

The girls at the top of a secret gate.

This was a "secret" gate.  Seems like the massive roof structure kind of gives away the secret. 

There was a huge bell that for a very small fee you could ring.  The girls were really excited to ring the bell.  They tried to hit it loud enough that all of the city below could hear it.  I'm pretty sure they succeeded, they really had that thing ringing.

 This was cool sign that they had posted at one of the lookouts.  It told the KM and direction to various major cities in the world.  Even the distance to the north and south pole.

Russ is such a good dad.  He uses every moment he can to teach the girls new things.  They are like sponges and soak it all up.

Walking down the mountain towards one of the main gates.

 The city has been built all around the wall, but it was crazy to see how busy things were just on the outside of this old, historical wall.

The roads were built right around one of the main gates.

This was a great picture of how the wall winds over the hills.

Teaching the girls how to shoot a cannon.  Just what we need-Lucy knowing how to shoot a cannon.  :)

 These 5 beacons were used to send military messages of impending attack to the people inside of the wall with the use of fire at night and smoke during the daytime.
-One signal fire was lit during normal times.
-Two signal fires were lit when an enemy appeared close to the national border.
-Three signal fires were lit when an enemy reached the border.
-Four signal fires were lit when an enemy crossed the border.
-Five signal fires were lit when fighting took place.

 This was one of the largest churches I have ever seen.  It filled up at least 1 whole city block.  I don't know what kind of church it was but it was massive and very old looking.

 Instead of taking the subway home we decided to take the train.  It only took us about 30 minutes to get from Suwon back to Seoul, it was a much faster way to get home after a long day.  On this adventure alone we rode the subway, bus, taxi and train.  We definitely take advantage of the public transportation systems in this country.

Hiking this fortress wall was a lot of fun for our family.  We commented numerous times how great it would be to bring visitors to this area...  hint, hint!