Alchemy of Souls | Garimseong Fortress — The Tree That Overlooked a Kingdom

The last stairs open onto a single zelkova. Its branches lean into a heart if you stand in the right place, and beyond them the Geumgang flats run toward Ganggyeong and the old mouth of the river. This is Buyeo Garimseong, Historic Site No. 4, raised in 501 on Seongheungsan when King Dongseong ordered a fortress to watch Sabi from the south. The tree is Natural Monument No. 564. In Alchemy of Souls it stands in for the height above Danhyanggok, the place Mu-deok said could show the whole of Daeho.

The climb from the free lot on Seongheung-ro 97beon-gil takes ten or fifteen minutes. The south gate site is close. The wall is stone and packed earth, three or four metres high in the surviving stretches, a teomoe-style ring around the peak. Hotel del Luna used the same tree. So did Seodongyo. The fortress does not change its job because a drama arrives. It still looks down the river the way a garrison needed it to. What the series added is a reason for people who never read the Samguk Sagi to make the walk.