China · 17th century
Yongtai Fortress ranks #5,258 of 9,040 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #55 of the 103 mapped in China. Founded 1608, it is older than 30% of the atlas's dated landmarks, one of 710 atlas entries founded in the 17th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,228 times in the last 60 days, more than 56% of the atlas. See how China compares in the castle statistics.
Yongtai Fortress is a village and historical fortress town in Sitan Township, Jingtai County, Baiyin City, Gansu, China. Built in 1608 by the Ming dynasty rulers to defend against attacks from northern minorities, it stationed 2000 infantrymen and 500 cavalry units. The entire fort is enclosed by a rammed earth wall including defensive towers. Due to desertification, the village is now mostly abandoned, dropping from 1500 people in the 1950s, to around 100 today.
Text adapted from “Yongtai Fortress” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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