[경복궁] The open-air museum "The Palace of Radiant Happiness" - Part 1
South Korea is a country-museum. Here you can walk for hours on the streets, admire the unusual buildings and green parks.
South Korea has a rich cultural heritage. To our days many historic places have come down, some of which have been converted to museums, so that everyone could get to know the culture and history of the country more closely. In this article I will tell you about the open-air museum - Gyeongbok Palace (경복궁).
Many call this palace Gyeongbokgung , but this is not entirely true. Gyeongbok-kun ... The ending - kun (궁) in Korean means the palace , so a small tautology is obtained when we call this palace the Gyeongbokgung Palace . Its full name has several different versions of the translation into Russian. Someone calls it the Palace of Sunlight and Happiness , someone's Palace of Radiant Happiness ... but the meaning is still one.
The palace was built in 1395, at the time of Joseon. And this is one of the largest and historically important palaces of the Joseon era.
In the era of Joseon, five palaces were built (Gyeongbokgung, Kyonghigun, Changdeokgung, Changchenkong, Toksugun). All of them are located in Seoul.
In the north of the palace towers the great Northern Mountains, and in the south - Gwanghwamun Square.
The total area of the palace is about 410,000 square meters. Previously, it consisted of more than 300 buildings and 5,792 rooms. You can enter the palace from 4 sides: north, south, west and east. The main gate is southern, they exit to the main square of Gwanghwamun and these gates are guarded by the royal guard. In fact, the era of kings in Korea has already passed, and now the presidential form of government is here. But the main gate of the palace is guarded by guards, dressed in the Joseon era. In front of the gate, there are statues of mythical animals, similar either to lions or to dogs.
2 times a day you can see the ceremony of changing the guard. The first change of guard takes place in the morning at 9:35, and the second - at 13:35.
Through the main gate used to enter the king himself. Through the eastern and western gates, the palace included high-ranking officials. And the servants of the palace used the northern gate.
For foreigners, the entrance to the palace is paid. An adult ticket costs about 3 dollars. The gates of the palace are closed on Tuesdays.
The Gyeongbok Palace was almost completely destroyed during the Imjin War. During the war, the king and his family were forced to leave the palace, settling in another Toksugun palace. The palace was empty for almost 3 centuries. And only under King Gojong by the end of the XIX century the palace was completely restored and again became a royal residence.
The Imjin War (1592-1598) is the Japanese annexation of Korea. This war left a big mark in the history of Korea, destroyed a huge number of important historical places, and carried with it many human lives.
However, in 1911 the Japanese troops again entered the city and Gyeongbokgung again suffered. Almost all buildings were destroyed, out of 330 buildings, there were only a few.
And now let's look into the palace and look at those structures that have survived to our days and were reconstructed.
The palace is always crowded. Basically, it's tourists. After all, Gyeongbok Palace is Number 1 in the list of attractions in Seoul.
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