Suncheon fortress.

In an article about a meeting in town concerning making Suncheon a better place to live and visit, the paper ran a picture of the outline of Suncheon-eup fortress (순천부읍성) superimposed on a map of the present-day city. All traces of the wall are gone, though there are commemorative plaques where the gates used to be. The North Gate abuts the present-day "Medical Rotary" (외료원로터리) and the South Gate is near the entrance to Central Market (중앙시장). Though not shown on the map, the East Gate was where the Industrial Bank of Korea is now.



A lot of old towns and villages---like Naju and Gwangju---had city walls at one time, and in Gangjin county alone there are the remnants of at least five fortresses. Suncheon's most notable is Nagan Fortress (낙안읍성), but there are a couple others, including one sort of close to my school, and another built by the Japanese in the 16th century. They're neat additions to the landscape, though of course it's a shame about the violent past implicit in their existence.