Hyehwamun Gate

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, the "Small East Gate". Because the official north gate, Sukjeongmun, was kept closed for centuries, this was in practice the gate most people used when leaving Seoul for the north. What you see today was rebuilt in 1994, but details such as the phoenix painted on the ceiling and the restored historic name board make it worth a closer look.

A gate that changed its name

Hyehwamun was built in 1396, the fifth year of King Taejo, together with the other gates of the city wall. It was first called Honghwamun. When the east gate of the newly built Changgyeonggung Palace was also named Honghwamun, the confusion led to a new name in 1511. After Sukjeongmun was closed in 1413 for geomantic reasons, Hyehwamun and Changuimun shared the role of the northern gate. Beyond it the road crossed Miari Pass and ran via Yangju and Pocheon to Gangwon and Hamgyeong provinces.

During the Joseon era, envoys from the Jurchen people entered the city through this gate, while Ming Chinese envoys used Sungnyemun, the great South Gate. The gate also served as a venue for military service examinations and lay on the route of royal funeral processions.

Lost and rebuilt

The gatehouse burned during the Japanese invasions of the 1590s, leaving only the stone base and arch for a long time; Jeong Seon's painting Dongsomun shows the gate without its pavilion. The gatehouse was rebuilt in 1744, with a new name board. In 1928, under Japanese rule, the gatehouse was pulled down, and in the late 1930s the stone base and arch went too, to make way for a road and tram line to Donam-dong. The pass was cut down by 5–6 m, permanently changing the terrain.

Today's gate was rebuilt in 1994 on a rise beside the road, about 13 m north-west of its original position. The original site now lies under the traffic of Dongsomun-ro.

What to look for

• Phoenix ceiling: city gates usually have dragons painted inside the arch, but Hyehwamun has a phoenix. The story goes that birds from the woods outside the gate damaged the crops, so the king of birds was painted here to scare them off.
• Name board: the board hung in 1994 was criticised as historically inaccurate. Using a rubbing of the old board kept at the National Palace Museum of Korea, Seoul City made and hung a new one in 2019.
• City wall: the wall runs north from the gate, and across the road the Naksan section of the wall descends towards Heunginjimun, the Great East Gate.

Tripto tips

• Time needed: 20–30 minutes for the gate itself. If you add the Naksan section of the wall (Hyehwamun to Heunginjimun, about 2.1 km), allow around 1.5 hours. Walk it in the evening, when the wall is lit and the city lights come on.
• Getting there: the closest stop is Hansung University Station, exit 5 on Line 4; Hyehwa Station exit 4 is also walkable. The gate sits on a bank above the main road and is reached by steps.
• Combine with: the nearby Hyehwa-dong exhibition and information centre of the Seoul City Wall occupies a remodelled 1940s wooden house, once the residence of the Chief Justice and later of the Mayor of Seoul, and displays Jeong Seon's Dongsomun. Naksan Park, Daehangno and the Sungkyunkwan Confucian shrine are all within walking distance.
• Note: the gatehouse is viewed from outside; you cannot go inside it.