Description of the attraction
Gyeonghigung Palace is one of five large palaces built during the Joseon era. Translated, the name of the Gyeonghigun Palace sounds like "the palace of serene ceremonies."
The palace was built in 1600, during the reign of King Gwanghae-gun, who was the 15th wan (king) of the Joseon state. Gwanghe-gun, whose original name was Hon, ruled for about 15 years - from 1608 to 1623. It was believed that his reign was quite despotic, so he was not given either a posthumous honorary title or a temple name.
The palace was under construction for about 6 years, and its complex consisted of almost 100 buildings and other objects. Basically, the palace was a minor residence of the king, as it was located in the western part of Seoul. It is because of this location that the palace was also called Sogvol - the Western Palace. The concept of "secondary palace" meant that the king usually came to this palace in the event of an emergency.
Many rulers of the Joseon Kingdom lived in Gyeonghigung Palace, from King Injo to King Cheolchon. At one time, the palace was impressive in size, next to the palace there was an arched bridge that connected two palaces from the palace complex - Gyeonghigun and Deoksugun.
Unfortunately, most of the Gyeonghigung Palace suffered from two fires that happened during the reign of the Sunjo and Gojong kings, and during the Japanese occupation, the palace was destroyed, and a Japanese school was built in its place. Two structures - the Sunjeongjong throne room and the Heunghwamun gate - were dismantled and transported to another part of Seoul city.
The reconstruction of the Gyeonghigung Palace began in the 1990s at the initiative of the South Korean government, but only a small part of the palace complex was restored.
