Gyeongbokgung palace, built in 1395, is one of the most important historical monuments in all Korea. It was the main royal palace of the Joseon dynasty that ruled Korea for more than 500 years. It is also the largest of the Five Grand Palaces.
The walk took place on a warm, sunny day at the end of June that also happened to be Culture day - a day when anyone can visit the Palace for free, which is being held every last Wednesday of the month.
We start our walk at Gwanghwamun Gate, which is the main and largest gate of the Palace. The gate consists of three entrances and a two story pavilion. It’s named after the Gwanghwamun Square on top of which the gate is located. If you would like to see Gwanghwamun Square, here is a video of my walk here: [ Ссылка ]
Next we pass the Heungnyemun Gate where visitors tickets are checked. The area between Gwanghwamun and Heungyemun gates is always available to everyone free of charge.
In order to reach the main Geungjeongjeon Hall, visitors need to pass one more gate - Geunjeongmun Gate. It is the main gate to the main courtyard, where Geunjeongjeon Hall is located. The gate has three separate entrances and only the king was allowed to walk through the center one.
In the middle of the main courtyard we see the great Geunjeongjeon Hall that was the Throne Hall where the king formally granted audiences to his officials, gave declarations of national importance and greeted foreign envoys and ambassadors during the Joseon dynasty.
From the Geunjeongjeon Hall we continue to Gyeonghoeru Pavilion, which was used to hold important and special state banquets during the Joseon Dynasty. It is built on an island on an artifical rectangular lake.
Next we visit the Sajeongjeon Hall which was used as the king’s main executive office. It is located behind Geunjeongjeon Hall and here the king carried out his executive duties and held meetings with the top government officials in Sajeongjeon.
In the courtyard behind the Sajeongjeon Hall lies the Gangnyeongjeon Hall where the king used to reside. One of the most famous kings of Joseon Dynasty - King Sejong, used to carry out his executive duties from here instead of the usual Sajeongjeon Hall, due to health problems.
To grant the queen privacy from government officials that frequently visited him, he had Gyotaejeon Hall built for her to reside in.
Part of the Gyotaejeon courtyard is Amisan, a garden with four hexagonal chimneys that are built from orange bricks and decorative roof tiles. On our walk, Amisan is featured only very briefly.
From Gyotaejeon the walk continues to the Jagyeongjeon Hall, which were main residing quarters for the Queen Sinjeong, built by her son - King Heonjong. It is notable for its chimneys behind the hall itself, which are decorated with ten signs of longevity to wish for a long life for the queen.
Another residence for the members of the dynasty was Donggung Residence. Here, the crown prince and his wife used to reside. The restoration of this part of the complex was finished only this year.
Not far away from Donggung, you can find a small lake and on the lake one of the most famous buildings of the Gyeongbokgung - the two story, hexagonal Hyangwonjeong Pavilion. The pavilion is connected to the rest of the palace grounds by a bridge called Chwihyanggyo, which was the longest bridge built purely out of wood during the Joseon dynasty.
Near the north boundaries of the Gyeongbokgung, lies the Jibokjae Hall, which used to be king’s library. Interesting thing about Jibokjae is that it shows heavy influence of Chinese architecture unlike the rest of the buildings in the complex.
Last of the royal buildings that we will visit is the Geoncheonggung Residence. It was built as a private residence for the King Gojong in 1873. Around the same time the Hyangwonjeong Pavilion was built nearby.
Geoncheonggung was king’s main residence since 1888, but on October 8, 1895, his wife, Empress Myeongseong was brutally murdered by Japanese assassins right in the residence. Her body was burned and buried in the nearby forest. Traumatised by the incident, the king left the residence in January 1896, never to return.
Our walk ends near the National Folk Museum of Korea. The museum uses replicas of historical objects to illustrate the history of traditional life of the Korean people.
Date of recording: June 2023
Video chapters:
00:00 Gwanghwamun Gate
00:57 Heungnyemun Gate
02:08 Geunjeongjeon Gate
03:24 Geunjeongjeon Hall
09:42 Gyeonghoeru Pavilion
20:19 Sajeongjeon Hall
23:33 Gangnyeongjeon Hall
26:30 Gyotaejeon Hall
30:19 Jagyeongjeon Hall
35:32 Donggung Residence
37:48 Hyangwonjeong Pavilion
41:11 Jibokjae Hall
43:33 Geoncheonggung Residence
51:50 National Folk Museum
#seoul #southkorea #korea #koreanhistory #gyeongbokgung #gyeongbokgungpalace #gwanghwamun #walkingtour #walk #4k #uhd #architecture #dailylife #citysightseeing #citysights #travel
