Urasoe Castle

Urasoe Castle is a Ryukyuan gusuku which served as the capital of the medieval Okinawan principality of Chuzan previous to the unification of the island into the Ryukyu Kingdom, and the transferring of the capital to Shuri. In the 14th century, Urasoe changed into the most important fort on the island, but nowadays only ruins continue to be. As royal capital, Urasoe represents the first example of a primary shift in the creation of elite structures, and castles gusuku particularly, in Okinawa.

It is thought to had been grander in scale and complexity than web sites which got here earlier than. Most of what is known approximately the fortress's records comes from archaeological excavations, and no longer from narrative ancient documentation. Low stone walls and put up-holes suggest the unique form of the citadel, built within the past due 13th–early 14th centuries. Over the next century or so, the fortress became multiplied, and got here to encompass what's today categorised the kogusuku.

Korean roof tiles were used within the expansions and creation at this time. Significant portions of the fortress were taken away in the early sixteenth century to useful resource in the construction of Shuri Castle. The castle remained in use, however, and Sho Iko, the son of King Sho Shin, took up house there in 1509. Finding it largely in ruins, he oversaw its refurbishment, and it's miles believed he moved the residential phase of the fortress from the kogusuku to the migusuku at this time.