The site began as a temporary palace during the Imjin War and became an official palace named Gyeongungung in 1611. Gojong made it the main palace in 1897.
Seokjojeon is a neoclassical building completed in 1910 and, the article says, designed and furnished by British people, though it names no designer. A West Wing was added in 1936 to 1938, and a fire in the Korean War destroyed the interior. Junghwajeon, the main hall, is dated 1902 in one place and 1906 in another, after the 1904 fire.
The palace shrank from 18 buildings in 1930 to eight. It opened as a park in 1933, and the main gate, Daehanmun, was moved in 1914 and again in 1970. Since 1998 the West Wing has housed a branch of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. The article gives no opening hours.
Comments