Nikolaevskoe Hillfort

Nikolaevskoe Hillfort (Николаевское городище) is a Jurchen-era archaeological site in Primorsky Krai, in the Partizansky municipal district. It stands on the left bank of the Vodopadnaya River, a tributary of the Partizanskaya River (formerly the Suchan), about 200 metres north of the village of Nikolaevka. The site covers 33 hectares and belongs to the valley-type hillfort category — a fortified settlement built not on a hilltop but on a flat river terrace.

History

The hillfort became known in 1871 thanks to a report by Archimandrite Palladius Kafarov, one of the first researchers of Jurchen antiquities in the Russian Far East. According to one hypothesis, the site served as the administrative centre of the Jurchen province of Elan. Archaeological excavations were carried out here in 1960 and 1962 under the orientalist E. V. Shavkunov, and again in 2000. In the 1930s a railway was built through the site's territory, partly disturbing the cultural layer.

What remains

The hillfort is surrounded by massive earthen ramparts up to 10 metres high, built of earth, boulders and gravel. In front of the rampart runs a moat 3–4 metres deep and 20–25 metres wide. Along the perimeter of the defensive line, remains of twelve towers and two entrance gates can be traced. Excavations inside the hillfort uncovered the remains of a ceremonial arch and buildings with richly decorated tile roofs. The bases of thirty columns of the central palace building survive; this structure and two other palaces were faced with brick. Today the lines of the ramparts and moat are clearly visible on the surface, and architectural details — columns, tile fragments — can be seen at the excavated parts of the site.

The legend of Tsar Kuan-Yun

The Far East explorer V. K. Arsenyev took interest in Nikolaevskoe Hillfort in connection with the legend of Tsar Kuan-Yun, whose domain was said to have been located near Nakhodka Bay and the mouth of the Suchan (Partizanskaya) River. How exactly this legend relates to Nikolaevskoe Hillfort specifically, as opposed to other Jurchen sites in the same area, is not clearly answered by the available sources.

Getting there

The hillfort lies in the north-eastern part of the village of Nikolaevka, on the riverbank at the mouth of a stream, within the Partizansky municipal district of Primorsky Krai. It can be reached on foot via dirt roads and paths leading from the village to the bank of the Vodopadnaya River.