ROK #6: Palaces

Since the founder of the Joseon Dynasty moved the Capital to Seoul in 1394 many beautiful palaces have been built.
We visited four of them: Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung, Changgyenggung and Gyeonghuigung. They all had many resemblances, though the 'newest' one had western furniture and an old Lincoln parked. Feng shui had an important role in deciding the location of the palace.

At the Gyeongbokgung Palace we watched the change of the gate guard as it was done in the 15th century, which gave us an idea of how colourful the Korean culture was during the Joseon Dynasty.



The drum is used to coordinate the guards’ actions.








The main gate to the Gyeongbokgung palace:


On the roofs of the most important buildings in the palaces are located animal figures. The more animals, the more important is the building:


The animals, led by the Monkey King protect the building against evil forces:


A palace consists of many buildings (one palace used to have more than 300 buildings!). These buildings include residential areas for the royal family (the king and the queen slept separately), administrative buildings for both the king and the government, minor palaces for the queen and the crown prince etc. Many of the buildings were lost during the Japanese occupation.


The inside decor of one of the palaces:


The roofs round shape was chosen to create a balance with the surrounding nature:




The 'secret garden' was only for the royal family, and nobody was allowed in there without the Kings permission. In the garden the King relaxed and regained his energy in a small pavilion for relaxation/meditation, on the pond in his fishing boat, or he studied in a library:

The pavilion:



Henrik in the kings garden:


At one palace, we saw a beautifully dressed couple having their pictures taken. A woman noticed we were looking and explained to us that it was a wedding couple. The woman on the picture is the bride:


Sitting in the palace court - absorbing the place, was a moment we treasured: