Gyeongbokgung was constructed by King Taejo, the first king and the founder of the Joseon Dynasty, in 1394. Gyeongbokgung continued to serve as the main palace of the Joseon dynasty until the premises were destroyed by fire during the Imjin War (1592–1598) and abandoned for two centuries. 

In 1989, the South Korean government started a 40-year initiative to rebuild the hundreds of structures that were destroyed by the colonial government of the Empire of Japan. Japan occupied Korea from 1910-1945. I was reminded of the time my brother and his Japanese wife were in Korea. The cab driver refused to take her because she was Japanese. Occupation isn’t easily forgotten, or forgiven.

The Japanese didn’t just destroy the palace, they burned it to the ground. In 1926, the Japanese government constructed a massive Japanese General Government Building in front of the throne hall, Geunjeongjeon, in order to eradicate the symbol and heritage of the Joseon dynasty.

This is Throne Hall.

And that is the throne.

I do love the colors in the details.

Beautiful designs too.

I like the bold use of color here.

I may or may not have gotten obsessed with the doorways.

I just love those traditional doors.

We saw a lot of Hanboks there. It seems to be a thing to dress up in Joseon Dynasty clothing and tour the palace grounds.

In fact, there were places where you could rent Hanboks for the day.

I believe that’s some sort of temple in the background.

That is Bugaksan Mountain.

Another shot of the temple beyond the palace wall.

Finally, this is a source of heat for the palace. It must have been pretty cold in there. We were in Seoul in March and the temps were in the 30s F. at night.

Great weekend, everyone!

{carole}