Changgyeonggung, Seoul

Palace of Flourishing Gladness in 2010

Main throne hall of Changgyeonggung.

Let me introduce you the last grand palace of the three I've seen in Seoul. The name is Chang·gyeong·gung [창경궁/昌慶宮] or the "Palace of Flourishing Gladness" and it's also a very interesting Korean royal palace. It's the first one I have visited. The whole area is big, if you include gardens and Jongmyo (where you need to enter and buy the ticket, cost me 1000 Won). You'll have a lot of walking to do, if you want to see everything. But the palace itself is not so big and there's not so many accompanying buildings like with the previous two palaces. It's worth to see the whole premise, though. I think it's best to see Changgyeonggung as the first of all the palaces (it's located in the east part) and then go to the western part and see the other four of the Five Great Palaces of Seoul. Enjoy my photos of this lovely place:

Jongmyo, a confucian shrine

Jongmyo, a Confucian shrine, is where you enter, if you're going to see Changgyeonggung. It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site and definitely worth to see.

See my photos of amazing Jongmyo here>>

The gate from Jongmyo to Changgyeonggung. Both parts are surrounded by a wall.

The Changgyeonggung palace complex.

The cherry blossoms were beautiful that day.

Haminjeong (涵仁亭) or the royal pavilion.

Hwangyeongjeon hall (歡慶殿) royal residence. The king slept here.

Off to the main part of the palace.

Myeongjeongjeon, the main throne hall

The buildings are very close to each other.

On the right side is the throne hall, in front is the courtyard.

The gate is named Myeongjeongmun (明政門).

Myeongjeongjeon (明政殿), the main throne hall of Changgyeonggung.

The throne of Korean kings.

The so called Bonghwang phoenixes above the throne.

The only photo of the front of Myeongjeongjeon was taken by a Korean man, who I ask for help. I don't know, why I didn't take photos of the whole building from the front. Bummer "-_-

The throne hall from the side.

Munjeongjeon hall, the council hall

Munjeongjeon hall (文政殿). The king dealt with state affairs here.

Inside Munjeongjeon hall. Very colorful and very well restored.

King's main spot.

After that I went uphill, above the palace is a forest, that leads to a pond.

This pond is called Chudangji and there's a lovely small island in the middle.

A greenhouse at the end. It has a beautiful garden.

View on the Namsan mountain and Namsan tower, my next destination.

How did you like my photos?

Realated sources: [Changgyeonggung on Visitkorea.or.kr][Changgyeonggung Wiki]

[My Korea][All photos by MKL except the small, 2010][Changgyeonggung Map]