On day two of our trip to South Korea, we went to Gyeongbokgung Palace but it was raining cats and dogs! We may have been soaking wet but it didn’t dampen our spirits for this delightful place. It was built in 1395 as the main palace and is commonly referred to as the Northern Palace because its location is furthest north compared to the neighbouring palaces of Changdeokgung (Eastern Palace) and Gyeonghuigung (Western Palace).
It’s located between Baegaksan Mountain in the north and Yukjogeori (Six Ministries Street, present-day Sejong-daero) in the south which, as it was placed just outside the palace’s main gate, Gwanghwamum, became the centre of the dynasty’s politics and economy. If you travel there by subway, the station to alight is Gyeongbokgung station, on Line 3 of the Seoul subway. It is very well posted and you should have no problem finding it.
This palace was destroyed multiple times by their neighbouring country, Japan, during the wars. It lay in ruins for many years. Then in 1990, a full-fledged project to restore the palace was launched, including the demolition of the Japanese Government-General Building which had stood in the palace grounds for about seventy years.
We were told by our tour guide they’ve only managed to restore 30% of the palace. Tours are free and we followed the English-spoken tour. The tour starts in front of Gyeongbokgung Palace Information Center at Heungnyemun Gate at 11am, 1.30pm and 3.30pm. No reservation is required and tours can last between 1 to 1.5 hours. As it was raining so heavily on the day we went, our tour only lasted about 30 minutes. It was not very easy to follow what she said as we were all shielding from the heavy rain.
This palace is arguably the most beautiful and remains the largest of all five palaces (Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung, Changgyeonggung, Deoksugung, and Gyeonghuigung). If you have limited time while visiting Seoul, this is the one you must visit.
The entrance fee was only 3,000 KRW (less than £2) for each adult and children go for free (correct as at the time we went in August 2023). If you are wearing their traditional hanbok, you get to go in for free (all five palaces), even on holidays, and on special event days. They are closed on Tuesdays and they also have other language tours like Mandarin, Japanese, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Spanish etc.
Look out for these ceremony timings:
- Changing of the Royal Guard Ceremony (Gwanghwamun Gate – main gate): 10am & 2pm
- Gwanghwamun Gate Guard on Duty Ceremony: 11am & 1pm
- Gatekeeper Military Training (Hyeopsaengmun Gate): 9.35am &, 1.35pm
This palace is filled with many buildings: Geunjeongjeon Hall, Sujeongjeon Hall, Gyeonghoeru Pavilion, Sajeongjeon Hall, Gangnyeongjeon Hall, Gyotaejeon Hall, Hyangwonjeong Pavilion, Geoncheonggung Palace, Jibokjae Hall, Taewonjeon Hall, Jagyeongjeon Hall, Donggung and Sojubang Kitchen.
The grounds are massive and you would need at least 2 to 3 hours to walk around. It can get very busy, especially around Sajeongjeon Hall, where you can view their treasures. If you look carefully at this photo which I took of the ceiling, you can see the dragon has seven feet.
Gyeonghoeru Pavilion was originally a small pavilion. It was enlarged along with the construction of a pond in 1412. It was destroyed by fire during the Japanese invasion of Korea in 1592 and was not replaced by the current building until 1867. The venue was used for various state events such as royal banquets, receptions of foreign envoys, final state examinations and seasonal religious rituals.
Sujeongjeon Hall is the only surviving building of all the government offices built on the grounds of Gyeongbokgung.
We didn’t manage to spend too much time there because of the rain as we didn’t have any other places to shelter. Most of the buildings are just empty outer shells hence you can’t visit the indoors for these. We exited through the east gate of Gyeongbokgung Palace and visited the National Folk Museum of Korea, to learn about the history of traditional life of the Korean people.