Banwolseong — Crescent Moon Fortress — was the main palace complex of the Silla dynasty for nearly a thousand years. The site sits on a low bluff above the Namcheon Stream, and the earthen ramparts that once enclosed the royal palace still form a crescent shape that gives the place its name. Nothing of the original buildings remains; the palace burned and was never rebuilt after the dynasty ended.
What survives is an expansive grassy park with the outline of the fortress walls, a reconstructed ice storage house (seokbinggo), and the sacred Najeong well where Silla's founding myth is set. The site is pleasant for walking, especially in the cherry blossom season when the surrounding trees flower. Banwolseong sits between Anapji Pond and Cheomseongdae and connects naturally to both as part of a walking circuit of central Gyeongju.