Changdeokgung was originally built in 1405 as a secondary palace, but when Gyeongbokgung (Seoul’s principal palace) was destroyed during the Japanese invasion in the 1590s, it became the primary royal residence until 1872. It remained in use well into the 20th century. Like most Joseon palaces, it has a mountain behind it and a small stream in front which means good pungsu (feng shui).

I was kind of underwhelmed by this palace. Maybe because Gyeongbokgung Palace was so festive? I was also pretty tired after looking at two palaces and a temple. We did a lot of walking on this trip; one day it was 24,000 steps.

It is a World Heritage Site, though. I noticed the spelling was different on this sign. Everywhere I looked it was the spelling in the title of this blog.

The colors and design were very similar to Gyeongbokgung Palace. There were a lot of buildings on the palace grounds.

More details.

Front view.

At first I thought these were faces, but they’re just designs.

There were a lot of wide open spaces. The palace grounds were huge.

I believe these are living quarters but I’m not sure. We should have probably hired a guide, but we were pretty palaced out by the time we got here.

I did like the doorways.

Especially this one.

Lots of brick walls.

Finally, some azaleas that were blooming. This was the end of March so it was pretty early for them. They’re much more sparse than the ones in the U.S.

Great weekend, everyone!

{carole}