Korea Travels - Day 10, Changdeokgung Palace

To visit Changdeokgung Palace, you must go on a tour. They are provided in Korean, Japanese, Chinese, and English. If you go online, you can purchase an extended tour that covers more of the grounds. The online tour is over 2 hours. The tour at the gate, which is what we took, is a little over an hour. Both tours cover the secret garden.

(Note : The "English" link will provide information on other palaces in Korea, too. )

Look at the path towards the building. There is a raised path with rows of what look to be tombstones on either side. The path is raised off of the ground with a center aisle raised again. Ony royalty used the center path. The two side paths would be used for governement officials and military. The tombstones are really markers for the different officers. The markings on the stone represent different rankings. Officers would stand in front of the stone matching their rank.

The little statues on the edges of the roof are guardians.

This is where the king sits.

In the above pictures, you may be able to see a blue roofed building on the right. That is Seongjeon. It is the place where the king received civil and military officials and handled matters of state. The queen only used this building on occasion. In 1470, the queen held a feast for the elderly. She also held events encouraging the cultivation of silkworms. This is the only building left in Korea with blue tiles.

The blue tiles were only on buildings for royalty. Almost all the buildings were painted red, the color of fire, for protection; ironically, all the red buildings caught fire at least once. The eaves were painted green for nature and peace.