Gyeongbok Palace

 

Last weekend, we went to visit one of the must-see places in Seoul: Gyeonbokgung, or Gyeongbok Palace.  This palace was used during the Joseon dynasty in Korea.  I’ll spare the history lesson here; there’s plenty of info about it on the interwebs.  You can start with the wikipedia page if you like.

 

The wall around Gyeongbokgung:

 

 

A pavilion overlooking traffic outside the outer wall:

 

The outer wall as seen from across the street:

 

Inside the outer wall, there is an open courtyard where you pay for tickets and enter the inner courtyard through the inner wall.  with the backdrop of mountains, here is the gate through the inner wall from a distance:

 

 

The gate through the inner wall is guarded by “palace guards” in traditional costume.  Tourists flock through here, taking pictures with the guards, in front of the impressive gate, and entering into the inner courtyard:

 

Palace guards at the gate:

 

Here’s a better view of them (they were performing a “Changing of the Guard” ceremony just as we arrived):

 

Don’t mess with this guy:

 

This guy doesn’t look quite so scary:

 

The gate:

 

This is what the roof of the gate looks like up close:

 

Upon entering the inner wall, we noticed that a special event was taking place.  Some middle-aged dudes were just standing around in front of these reed mats, and a woman was yelling at them through a microphone.  Then they would bow for a while, and get back up.  Apparently, it was the 16th annual reenactment of the state exam, which was historically used to test scholars as an entrance examination into government and other bureaucratic employment positions.  Anywhere, here it is, with the throne room in the background:

 

Another view of the art on the beams supporting the roof:

 

The latticework:

 

A view of the gate to the inner courtyard through which we previously entered.  I like this picture for its representation of the coexistence of modern and ancient architecture in present-day Seoul.

 

The throne room:

 

Art in the throne room:

 

The throne room from a different angle (I’m not sure exactly because PapaFish took almost all of these pictures):

 

I liked the many gates, walls and doorways that separated the different buildings and sections of the palace grounds.

 

This was my favorite wall, even though I felt like I couldn’t manage to get a good enough picture to do it justice:

 

The wall with a gate and rooftops (pay no attention to the fire hydrant behind the curtain, er, I mean doorway!):

 

A pavilion (I forgot the name of it; I think it’s Hyangwonjeong)

 

 

This was another of my favorite doorways, with a little garden off to the side:

 

The doors of the palace buildings were also striking:

 

The doors are lined with a think kind of paper (it reminds me of mulberry paper)

 

A pagoda that we just walked by without visiting; hence, I don’t know the name of it:

 

Rooftops of the palace buildings against a mountainous backdrop and autumn colors in the foreground:

 

 

Palace walls with an autumn backdrop:

 

Angular view of palace walls with mountains and autumn colors in the background:

 

 

I did not really ever appreciate the autumn season before living in Minnesota in 2008.  Back then, I got to see such wonderful treasures as this:

Bloomington, MN 

 

and also this:

 

Normandale Lake Park, Bloomington, MN

 

in Seoul, we get similar pleasures, such as these bright colors amongst the still-green foliage:

 

The trees look like they are dying by fire:

 

As you can see, it was lovely, so we took a family picture:

 

 

Some Chinese tourists thought the view was lovely, too:

 

 

Happy Autumn, everyone!