"안녕하세요 - Annyeonghasaeyo". Seoul, South Korea - Day 7 : Changdeok-gung

This is the second last post of the report for my recent trip to Seoul, South Korea. If you have any questions, please feel free to post your question in the comments section, I will try my best to answer.

The earlier reports are as follow:
Part 0: Planning
Part 1: Setting foot in Seoul
Part 2: Skiing in Yongpyong
Part 3: COEX Aquarium & Namsan Tower
Part 4: The Korean DMZ

Changdeok-gung palace

We reserved the last 2 days of our stay in Seoul for visiting of the 2 main Joseon Dynasty imperial palaces.

The Korean Peninsula was ruled by the Joseon Dynasty from AD 1392 to 1897 with it's capital in modern day Seoul. After which, it came under Japanese rule until the surrender of the Japanese Forces in World War 2.

There are 5 palaces located in Modern Day Seoul. They are Gyeongbok-gung (경복궁), Changdeok-gung (창덕궁), Deoksu-gung (덕수궁), Changyeong-gung (창경궁) and Gyeonghui-gung (경희궁).

The biggest and grandest of them all are the Gyeongbok-gung, which served as the seat of power of Joseon from 1395 until it was razed by the Japanese invasion in 1592. The royal seat then moved to Changdeok-gung for the next three centuries while Gyeongbok-gung lies in ruins. In 1867, the restoration of Gyeongbok-gung was completed and the seat of power once again moved back to Gyeongbok-gung.

Both palaces suffers extensive damages in the Japanese occupation of Korea from 1897 to 1945 with many of the original buildings destroyed. In the late 1980s, the government of South Korea started the restoration of the Joseon palaces, thus most of the buildings we see now are in it's re-built state.

Following advices from a friend, we reserved 1 day each for visiting Gyeongbok-gung and Changdeok-gung. 

The first palace we visit is Changdeok-gung, to reach there, take subway Orange line to Anguk station, exit number 3 and walk east about 100m to the main entrance. Ticket price costs KRW 3,000 for adults, KRW 1,500 for youths 7-24 year olds and free for children below 7 years old.

Walking direction from Anguk Station to Changdeok-gung main entrance. (View Larger Map)

What makes this palace unique as compared to other east asian palaces of the time is that instead of terra-forming the surrounding terrain to suit palace architecture, the designers of this palace designed the buildings according to the surrounding environment. Therefore, there is very little symmetry along the north-south axis so prevalent among east asian palaces such as Gyeongbok-gung and Forbidden City in Beijing, China.

Map of Changdeok-gung. Notice the lack of symmetry in the palace layout.

Building of the throne room

Throne room of the king

The bridge in the foreground is called Geumcheongyo Bridge. Built in AD 1411, it the oldest bridge in Seoul.

One thing not to be missed when visiting Changdeok-gung is the "Huwon (rear palace)" behind the main palace grounds which are only accessible via "Secret Garden" guided tour. Guided tour costs an additional KRW 5,000 and must be booked in advance from their website and is available in Korea, English, Chinese and Japanese languages.

Walking direction to the "Secret Garden" entrance

Entrance to the "Secret Garden"

Temperatures below zero means walking on the frozen pond is now possible.

The (now dry) moat surrounding the palace grounds

One of the oldest tree in the palace grounds, the Hyangnamu. Estimated to be 700 years old.

Next, visiting Gyeongbokgung