Donggung Palace and Wolji Pond

Donggung Palace and Wolji Pond in Gyeongju are the site of a detached royal palace and an artificial pond created just after Silla unified the Three Kingdoms. After dark the restored pavilions are lit up and mirrored in the water, which makes this the most popular night view in Gyeongju. For centuries the pond was known as Anapji, but excavations revealed that its Silla-era name was Wolji, "Moon Pond".

History: King Munmu's pond

The "Samguk Sagi" chronicle records that in 674, the 14th year of King Munmu's reign, a pond was dug and hills were raised inside the palace, planted with flowers and trees and stocked with rare birds and animals. Five years later, in 679, the Donggung (East Palace) was built. It was the residence of the crown prince and the place for banquets on festive occasions or when important guests arrived. In 931, near the end of Silla, King Gyeongsun, under attack from Gyeon Hwon, invited Wang Geon, founder of Goryeo, to a feast here and pleaded for help.

After Silla fell in 935 the site went to ruin, and Joseon-era poets called it Anapji, "pond of geese (雁) and ducks (鴨)", a name also found in early Joseon geographies such as the "Dongguk Yeoji Seungnam". The Japanese architectural historian Fujishima Gaijiro made the first survey in 1929 and identified one building site on the shore as Imhaejeon; around the same period a railway line laid alongside the pond caused heavy damage.

In 1974, clean-up works turned up Silla relics and a full excavation began; a pottery shard inscribed with the characters 月池 (Wolji) confirmed the original name. The pond was investigated from March 1975 for a year and the surrounding building sites from May to December 1976; 120 trenches 2.5 m wide were dug one after another from the west bank to reveal the finds and the stone embankments. The site took its present name in 2011. The Donggung and Wolji area was designated a Historic Site in 1963 and covers more than 350,000 m². Because the "Samguk Sagi" called the palace Imhaejeon, "hall facing the sea", the road running north-east to the Hwangnyongsa temple site is named Imhae-ro.

What to see

• Wolji Pond: about 200 m east to west and 180 m north to south. The west and south banks are straight stone embankments, while the north and east banks curve in and out, so the whole pond can never be seen from one spot. It was designed to feel like a sea with no visible end.
• Three islands and twelve peaks: three islands of different sizes sit in the pond, and an artificial range of twelve peaks along the north-east shore reflects Taoist ideas of the immortals. The islands are artificial, built of earth and natural rocks on stone walls about 1.7 m high; the large southern island is 102 m from the small central one and 160 m from the middle-sized island in the north-west.
• Restored pavilions: 26 building sites have been found around the pond, and in 1980 three of the five on the west shore were rebuilt. One of them is thought to be Imhaejeon, "the hall overlooking the sea", a name that shows the pond was meant to represent the ocean.
• Water inlet: look for the two-step basin in the south-east corner where water enters the pond. It was built so that the water changes its flow as it drops over the steps, a fine example of Silla garden engineering.
• Outlet and embankments: at the outlet, a 1.8-metre stone slab pierced with three holes, at the top, middle and bottom, controlled the water level. Under the building sites, the parts of the embankment below the waterline are built of rough stones, while the parts above it are neatly cut long blocks.

Good to know

Sources differ on how many objects were recovered from the bottom of the pond: about 30,000 or 33,000. A brick inscribed "second year of Tiaolu (680)" supports the dating of Imhaejeon to King Munmu's time, and the many bowls and dishes found here, unlike grave goods, were used in daily life and show how the Silla court lived. Around 700 objects from the site are on display in the Wolji Gallery of Gyeongju National Museum. Plans to rebuild more of the pond and pavilions were halted in 2018 after UNESCO objected; the site is part of the Gyeongju Historic Areas World Heritage Site. More recent excavations have found what appears to be the crown prince's actual residence to the east of the pond and, to the north-east, a granite flush toilet and a large well about 10 m deep; this area of some 6,500 m² alone has revealed 40 building sites. Analysis of the animal bones found with them, from deer, dogs and even sharks, has shown what the people of Silla ate.

Tripto tips

• Opening hours: daily 09:00–22:00, ticket sales end at 21:30; open all year.
• Tickets: adults KRW 3,000, teenagers KRW 2,000, children KRW 1,000. You can also buy tickets in advance through Gyeongju's online ticketing system for historic sites.
• Night visits: crowds build from sunset. If you arrive just before closing you may not get in, so leave plenty of time.
• Parking: the Donggung and Wolji car park in Inwang-dong is free.
• Walking route: Cheomseongdae and Wolseong are within walking distance, so a good plan is Daereungwon and Cheomseongdae by day and the pond in the evening. The Donggung and Wolji lotus fields are right next door.
• Time needed: about an hour for a loop around the pond.