Olympic Park, Seoul

Olympic Park in Bangi-dong, Songpa-gu, covers about 1.45 million m². It was built for the 1986 Asian Games and the 1988 Seoul Olympics, and today it is a public park of stadiums, concert halls, museums and wide lawns. Right in the middle survives a Baekje earthen fortress around 1,600 years old, so you can walk from Olympic legacy to ancient ruins in one visit.

History: a Baekje fortress revealed by construction

The park was completed in 1986. Mongchontoseong, excavated during construction, is an earthen fortress of early Baekje south of the Seongnaecheon stream, a tributary of the Han River, with a circuit of about 2.7 km. Excavations revealed clay ramparts built on natural hills, traces of a wooden palisade and a moat around the walls. Inside were house sites, storage pits, pottery and iron weapons; shards of celadon stamped with a coin pattern from China's Western Jin dynasty (265–316) became a key clue for dating the site. Mongchontoseong was designated a Historic Site in 1982.

What to see

• Mongchontoseong trail: paths run along and around the ramparts. Pines on the slopes keep them green all year, and from the top you look over the park towards Lotte World Tower.
• Mongchonhaeja: a lake created on the line of the old moat, with a waterside path.
• The Lone Tree (Nahollo Namu): a single tree on a broad grassy hill, a remnant of the village that stood here before the park, and one of Seoul's favourite photo spots.
• Seoul Baekje Museum and Mongchon Museum of History: displays on Mongchontoseong and the Hanseong period of Baekje.
• Olympic venues: six venues for cycling, weightlifting, fencing, swimming, gymnastics and tennis; the gymnastics arena is now the KSPO DOME concert hall. The World Peace Gate at the entrance, an open-air sculpture park and the SOMA museum are also inside the park.

Splitting up the park

The park is divided into a leisure sports area, a culture and arts area, an eco-park and a history experience park. On a first visit, try one of these routes.

• History route: start at Hanseong Baekje or Mongchontoseong Station, walk along Mongchon Moat, then climb onto the rampart trail of Mongchontoseong. Circling the walls to the Lone Tree hill covers the southern half of the park.
• Olympic route: begin at the World Peace Gate and Peace Square near Olympic Park Station and continue past the venues and the sculpture park.

At Mongchontoseong, archaeologists found sections where natural bedrock was cut into steep walls, as well as gate sites, house sites and storage pits. With other early Baekje sites such as Pungnaptoseong and the Seokchon-dong tombs nearby, many see this area as the heart of Baekje's Hanseong period. Finds from the fortress are displayed in the Seoul Baekje Museum inside the park.

Tripto tips

• Opening hours: pedestrians and cyclists 05:00–22:00 (Peace Square area until 24:00). Open every day, free.
• Getting there: Olympic Park Station (Lines 5 and 9), Mongchontoseong Station (Line 8) and Hanseong Baekje Station (Line 9) all lead straight into the park. For the fortress, Mongchontoseong or Hanseong Baekje stations are closest.
• Getting around: the park is huge and takes more than three hours to see fully. The Hodori road train from beside Peace Square saves time.
• When to go: spring greenery and autumn reeds and foliage make for the best walks. On big concert days the car parks and stations are very crowded.
• Time needed: 1–2 hours for the fortress and the Lone Tree; half a day with the museums.