Memorial (This week's Photo Hunt theme)

Recently on my blog, I've been posting photos galore of rocky Po Toi, Hong Kong's southernmost island where I went on a hike some months ago that yielded various interesting views and sights. Although it wasn't a hike per se, another scenic walk that yielded a plethora of photos to share with this blog's visitors was one that I took along the walls of Suwon's Hwaseong Fortress on my Korean vacation back last October.

A fortress dating back to the late 18th century that also was built as a memorial by a filial son (King Jeongjyo of Joseon) to his unfortunate father who was ordered to be sealed alive in a rice chest by his own father (Jeongjyo's grandfather), it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1997. Measuring some 5.74 kilometers (3.57 miles) in length it total, it more or less encircles the Suwon old city center (which includes a palace, the Hwaseong Haenggung, that is another noteworthy attraction in and of itself).

On a beautiful fall day like the one I was fortunate to be greeted with on my visit to Suwon, the walk is a very pleasant one indeed. Those thinking of doing it should be forewarned though that it begins with a bit of a hike up a hill and then follows a path alternately atop or alongside the fortress walls that undulates somewhat along the way.

So, the easy way to see what's there is to check my photo-essays #1, #2 and #3 of Hwaseong Fortress. But my visit to this superb memorial that has now stood for over 200 years yielded so many other photos, including the pair in this Photo Hunt entry that I had not previously put up of and, I reckon, well shows the fortification's strength and beauty. (For the record, the second photo is of the fortress' Seojangdae (West Command Post) in silhouette at sunset.)