136.Torigoe Castle Part2

Well developed ruins of a mountain castle

Features

Enclosures built using Natural Terrain

Today, the ruins of Torigoe Castle are well restored for visitors. If you drive to the ruins, you can easily go up to the parking lot near the top of the mountain. After parking, you can walk on the path to the center of the ruins. This path goes through the Rear Third Enclosure and the Rear Second Enclosure. These enclosures protected the Main Enclosure in the north. Similarly, the Third Enclosure and the Second Enclosure also protected the Main Enclosure in the south. Moreover, the Belt Enclosures surrounded the enclosures mentioned above for connection or a defense perimeter.

The aerial photo around the castle

The path to the center of the ruins
The Rear Third Enclosure

For example, if you look at the Rear Second Enclosure, you can see it has a deep dry moat and is highly heaped. You can imagine the builders dug the moat and made the enclosure by heaping the soil from the moat on natural terrain. Some wooden fences were probably built along the enclosure. Some buildings were also built in the enclosure, where you can see the remnants of them now.

The Rear Second Enclosure
The inside of the Rear Second Enclosure
The Rear Second Enclosure seen from the Main Enclosure

Restored Buildings and Stone Walls

You can go further to the Central Enclosure in front of the Main Enclosure. Due to the achievement of the excavation, some buildings were restored. One of them is the Central Enclosure Gate, which may have been the front gate of the castle. Another is a barrack which is also currently used as the rest house.

The Central Enclosure
The Central Enclosure Gate
The restored barrack and rest house for visitors

You can finally enter the Main Enclosure through the Masugata-mon Gate which is surrounded by the only stone walls in the castle. They were also restored in recent times, and originally built by Nobunaga Oda’s troops. This was because the castle was changing hands between the Kaga Ikko uprising and Oda during the conflict. Masugata refers to a square space inside or outside of the entrance, which has made it more defensive. In the back of the Masugata, there is, likewise, the restored turret styled Main Enclosure Gate, which was originally built by the Kaga Ikko uprising.

The Masugata-mon Gate
The inside of Masugata
The Main Enclosure Gate

You can enjoy View and see Good Location

Inside the Main Enclosure, there were a lot of buildings discovered during the excavation. However, the purpose of them is still uncertain, so only columns and stone foundations are shown for visitors. In addition, some wooden fences on the earthen walls, a well, and large jars for storage are restored in the enclosure. From the enclosure, you can see a good view of both sides of the mountain in the east and west, being at a good location for lookout and protection.

The inside of the Main Enclosure
The restored wooden fences
A view from the Main Enclosure (the eastern side)

To be continued in “Torigoe Castle Part3”
Back to “Torigoe Castle Part1”

投稿者: Yuzo

城巡りが好きなYuzoです。日本には数万の城があったといわれています。その内の200名城を手始めにどんどん紹介していきます。 I'm Yuzo, I love visiting castles and ruins. It is said that there were tens of thousands castles in Japan. I will introduce you top 200 castles and ruins of them, and more!

「136.Torigoe Castle Part2」への1件のフィードバック

コメントを残す

メールアドレスが公開されることはありません。