Mutsu Moriyama Castle

En un regard

Le château en bref

Moriyama Castle (守山城), called "of Mutsu" to distinguish it from its namesakes, stands in the Tamura district of the city of Kōriyama, Fukushima Prefecture. This medieval castle was long the political heart of the Tamura district. Tradition links the site to the general Sakanoue no Tamuramaro, but documented history begins with the Tamura Shōji, lords of the region until the period of the Northern and Southern Courts, who made it their main base before being brought down by the attacks of the Kantō kubō. At the end of the 16th century the site passed successively to Date Masamune in 1588 and then to Gamō Ujisato after Toyotomi Hideyoshi's reorganisation of the north; it was then that the castle was remodelled and given stone walls. The Uesugi held it from 1598 to 1601, before the return of the Gamō, who moved their residence to Miharu Castle around 1609. In 2000, excavations revealed rough stone walls, building foundations, drains and wells. The main enclosure now hosts the Shiroyama Hachiman-gū shrine, and the site has been a Kōriyama city historic site since 2016.