Haemieupseong Fortress

Most Korean fortresses are mountain refuges; Haemieupseong is an eupseong, a wall built round a working provincial town on flat ground, and it is one of the few that survives more or less whole - about a kilometre and a half of stone wall, a main gate with its arched passage, and inside it the restored government office, jail and a scatter of thatched buildings on open grass. It was built in the early fifteenth century against Japanese coastal raiding. In the nineteenth century it became a place of execution during the persecutions of Korean Catholics, and hundreds died here; an old zelkova in the grounds is associated with those events and the site is now a pilgrimage destination, visited by Pope Francis in 2014. The two histories sit side by side, and the interpretation covers both. Entry is free, the grass inside is open, and a festival with period displays runs in autumn.

What you actually see

• The town wall and gate - a rare complete eupseong circuit.
• The government office and jail - restored inside the walls.
• The old zelkova - tied to the nineteenth-century persecutions.
• The open ground - grass and thatched buildings within.

When to go

April to June and September to November; the autumn festival brings period displays and crowds. Mornings are quiet.

Honest expectations

Much inside the walls is reconstruction on excavated foundations. It is a solemn site for Catholic visitors and a park for everyone else, which can feel mismatched.

Nearby

The Seosan rock-carved Buddha triad and Sudeoksa are within a short drive.