Imagine how the government offices of Changdeokgung palace in Seoul look like

I want to be your untact world tour guide. I`ll show you all the corners of the historic and unique sights around. At firrst, I`ll let you go to Changdeokgung palace, the world Unesco heritage in seoul. You can see many beautiful Korean traditional buildings in the palace. So, You don`t have to miss here, when you visit Seoul. Please, follow me!

 

We will look around the royal kitchin and the crown prince’s residence today. Many female servants lived in the rooms near the royal kitchin and cook everyday for the royal family. Don`t you wonder how the kitchin looks like? And the crown prince had his own residence next to huijeongdand area. He usually studied, read books, met retainers there. He had to study too much to be a great king after his fatherCan you imagine how the governmental offices of Changdeokgung palace look like? There are various divisions of Joseon dynasty. Some divisions for serving the king directly were within the palace. and the others were out of palace. Gyujanggak, Bongmodang, Chaekgo, Geomseocheong, Eokseomgnu, etc. are located within the palace. It`s impressive all office buildings look different each other. Let`s go into Gwolnaegaksa now.

 

While many government offices were located outside the palace walls, some offices were built on the palace grounds and were collectively known as Gwolnaegaksa. In an area west of Injeongjeon, Naeuiwon (Royal infirmary), Hongmungwan (Officeof Special Advisers), and Geomseocheong (Publication Office)were located to the east of Geumcheon Stream, and Gyujanggak (Royal Library) and Bongmodang (Hall of Upholding the Policies of Former Kings) were to the west. Because so many of the king’s support offices were concentrated in such a small area, Gwolnaegaksa had a labyrinthine feel. During the Japanese occupation, Gyujanggak was vastly simplified and its collection moved to the library of today’s Seoul National University. All the buildings in this area were eventually destroyed during the Japanese occupation, and their sites paved over by roads. The existing buildings were restored between 2000 to 2004.

* Resource : Changdeokgung palace office

 

Gwolnaegaksa was governmental departments complex within the palace. Here is the entrance of the complex.

Gwolnaegaksa was governmental departments complex within the palace. This building was the royal library and academic institution called Gyujanggak.

Unhanmun gate to Bongmodang, where the articles left by the former kings were kept.

Chaekgo was a storage for all kinds of books and the large Juniper is over 750 years old.

Geomseocheong , located above the stream, was an office to inspect and manage books.

The view of the offices from the stone bridge above Geumcheon stream is beautiful.

Eokseongnu pavilion, attached to Yakbang , is the only two-story building in the palace.

Old Seonwonjeon shrine served as a royal portrait hall to worship successive kings.

You can see Yangjidang and Injeongjeon to the east of Old Seonwonjeon shrine.

 

Yangjidang hall was where the king would stay before the ritual at Seonwonjeon.

 

 Did you have fun to look around the new place? The Korean traditional buildings are beautiful and unique. Next time I`ll show you the beautiful rear garden of changdeokgung. It`s the most beautiful garden which I have seen till now. Good day!^^