139 attractions in Seoul, including Jongmyo Shrine, Jingwansa Temple and Changgyeonggung Palace. Map, details and practical tips before you go.
Historic sites & memorials
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Jongmyo is the royal ancestral shrine where the spirit tablets of the kings and queens of the Joseon dynasty were kept and honoured with rites. It lies in the middle of Jongno in central Seoul, yet behind its walls the woods, wide stone co…
Churches & monasteries
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On the western slopes of Bukhansan in Seoul's Eunpyeong-gu, Jingwansa was founded in 1011 by the Goryeo king Hyeonjong to thank the monk Jingwan, who had saved his life. In the Joseon era it was the main temple for the state-sponsored sury…
Palaces
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Changgyeonggung is a Joseon palace in Jongno, Seoul. Together with Changdeokgung, from which it is separated by a single wall, it was known as the "East Palace". Built to house senior royal women, it is modest in size, yet it has Myeongjeo…
Palaces
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Changdeokgung was built in 1405 as a secondary palace, yet it became the palace where Joseon kings spent the most time. Instead of the strict symmetry of Gyeongbokgung on the flat ground, its halls follow the slopes of a spur of Bugaksan m…
Old towns & squares
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Right behind Dongdaemun Gate, steep stairways and narrow lanes climb the slopes of Naksan in layers. Sewing workshops leak the sound of machines into every alley, many houses still look as they did in the 1970s and 80s, and tucked between…
Gardens & parks
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Cheonggyecheon is a stream that runs west to east through the heart of Seoul. For decades it was buried under concrete with an elevated expressway on top; in 2003–2005 the road came down and the stream was brought back to the surface. Toda…
Museums
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On the bank of the Cheonggyecheon in Majang-dong, Seongdong District, this branch of the Seoul Museum of History tells the story of the stream: from the Joseon-era "Gaecheon" through shanty towns, a covered road and an elevated highway, to…
Gardens & parks
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Tapgol Park, laid out in 1897, was Seoul's first modern public park, and it is where the Declaration of Independence was read on 1 March 1919, launching the March First Movement against Japanese rule. It is a small park in the middle of Jo…
Gardens & parks
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Hangang Park is the shared name for 11 riverside parks running along both banks of the Han River through Seoul. This is where Seoulites cycle after work, spread out picnic mats at weekends and come for the river breeze at night, so it is t…
Museums
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Nowhere makes it clearer that Seoul was once a Baekje capital than the Seoul Baekje Museum in Olympic Park. In its lower gallery stands a real section of the wall of Pungnaptoseong, Baekje's royal fortress, cut out and brought here, so you…
Fortresses
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The Seoul City Wall (Hanyangdoseong) encircled Hanyang, the capital of the Joseon dynasty, running for about 18.6 km along the ridges of Baegak (Bugaksan), Naksan, Namsan (Mongmyeoksan) and Inwangsan. It served as the capital's wall for 51…
Museums
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This public museum in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, honours Heo Jun, the Joseon court physician who wrote the Donguibogam. It stands in Gayang-dong, where Heo Jun is believed to have been born and raised, and a herb garden reached from its roof grows…
Historic sites & memorials
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At the northern end of Daehangno, beside the road that climbs from Hyehwa-dong towards Seongbuk-dong, a small city gate stands on a rise. This is Hyehwamun, one of the four minor gates of the Seoul City Wall, long known simply as Dongsomun…
Towns & cities
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Hongdae is the lively district that spreads around Hongik University in Seoul's Mapo District, between Hongik University, Sangsu and Hapjeong stations. The name is simply a short form of the university's name rather than an official place…
Fortresses
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On the road to Segeomjeong, a five-arched water gate and a gate with a wooden tower stand side by side over the Hongjecheon stream. Hongjimun and its wall, Tangchundaeseong, were built in the late Joseon period to close the gap between the…
Churches & monasteries
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Hwagyesa is a Jogye Order temple on the south-eastern slopes of Bukhansan, just above the houses of Suyu-dong in Gangbuk-gu, Seoul. You can walk there from a metro station, yet the temple is wrapped in forest and a mountain stream. In 1933…
Historic sites & memorials
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Between the office towers and hotels near Seoul City Hall, a building with three tiers of octagonal roofs stands almost hidden. Hwangudan is the site of the altar where, in 1897, King Gojong offered sacrifices to Heaven, took the title of…
Historic sites & memorials
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Hyochang Park in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, is a Historic Site where Kim Koo and other leaders of the independence movement are buried. Walking paths wind through pine woods, so at first glance it looks like an ordinary neighbourhood park, but eac…
Fortresses
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Heunginjimun, widely known as Dongdaemun ("Great East Gate"), was the main eastern gate in the wall around Hanyang, the Joseon capital. It is the only one of Seoul's eight city gates with a half-moon ongseong outer wall, and the only one w…