West Gate (inside view)

Hwaseong Fortress
1794-1796
Suwon, Korea

Military-looking features of the gate include its doubly-bent side staircase, and a pair of drop spouts over the arch. Surprisingly, there are still unresolved (as far as I know!) questions about even these "obvious" features. For example, why are the two side staircases not symmetrical? The far staircase takes a single 90-degree turn, while the near staircase takes a double turn. As for the spouts, what are they for - and why are there two of them and why are they on the inside?