My wonderful "Visit to the Kings"

Hello :)

I would like to tell about a wonderful day I had today.

Despite today being a Saturday, I got up early in the morning and went to Seoul. So what is the reason of sacrificing my usual-Saturday-sleeping-until-afternoon? It was because I had a field trip called "Visit to the Kings", organized by Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation, and the opportunity to participate in it was provided by Mizy center, as a reward for active members of the IEWCH (Integrated Education for the World Cultural Heritage) program (I will dedicate a post to my participation in this program some other time).

At around 10 in the morning everyone gathered at the entrance of Changgeonggung palace (창경궁). I met my friends, that I got to know through the IEWCH program, and we also met a lovely Korean lady-guide, who has done a great job, guiding us today, and telling interesting facts and stories, related with the spots we visited.

this is how the palace welcomed us {{all the photos are taken by my iPod, please excuse the poor quality}}

Around 1 and a half hours we spent, going around the palace. Since I came to Korea, I have been to several palaces, but I can say that this visit to a palace was the most enjoyable one, because this time we had a really good guide leading us. The rest of the story at the palace I better show in photos :)

Mr. Mighty Dragon

This pic is so bad ㅠ.ㅠ But i wanted to write a story behind it... This is the room where the king had a council with his ministers, sitting on that low sofa. While king with his ministers had discussions, there were also another people in the room - historians, who wrote down everything they heard very accurately. The funny thing is even the king couldn't control them. There is a story that says: once, king fell down from his horse, while hunting. He was very embarrassed, so he begged the historian (who is always nearby), "Please don't write it down". So what did the historian do? He wrote "The king said, please don't write it down" :D

In this direction, neighboring to Changgeongung  locates Changdeokgung (창덕궁). We didn't have a chance to go there today, but i really want to go there some other time. They say, there is a Secret Garden over there :o

You can see a pagoda on this photo. What? Isn't pagoda from Japan, not Korea? You would say. Right, actually a sad part of Korean history lies here. At the time Japanese military intervened to Korea, they also placed a few pagodas in Korean palaces. Nowadays only one pagoda remains in this palace. I find it very interesting that in a Korean palace you can see traces of Japanese and Chinese (at historical spots you can easily find Chinese characters) culture, we can perceive a bit of the close bond that throughout a long history always linked those countries.

Here you can see a nice view of the Namsan (Seoul) Tower, you can enjoy it directly from the palace

Sundial Angbuilgu (앙부일구) made in 15th century

Korean traditional birthplace

What do you see? Right, a turtle. But not just a usual one, it is a turtle - 1st out of 9 sons of a Dragon. His character is to carry a thing on a back.

So here the excursion around Changgeonggung palace ended and we moved to the next location - Heolleung (헌릉) and Illeung (인릉). I think it is time to explain about the name of today's tour, which was called "Visit to the Kings: From Cradle to Grave". Our tour advanced in this manner: first we went to to the Changgeongung palace, where the king was born and spent his life, next after king died his body was kept in royal tombs in Heolleung and Illeung, and at last we went to Jongmyo shrine, where the king's soul rests. Don't you think the concept of the program is very well-thought? :)

As the previous one, I would like to show you my journey in photos.

This is the tablet in front of a main entrance. The symbol at the top means that Heolleung & Illeung were designated by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage spot. This is a big deal :)

This is a so-called T-shaped shrine. Very beautiful view.

Stele shed with epitaphs for a king and a queen

The round buildings are real tombs of King Taejong and Queen Wongyeong

Stone subjects of the King, loyal to him in his last journey

Another T-shaped shrine and a breathtaking scenery

This is all we saw at the Heolleung and Illeung shrines. To tell the truth these shrines were the best part of the trip for me. If you take a good camera there (unlike mine -.-), you can have many beautiful shots, I assure you :)

The view is beautiful in autumn, when everything has its own lyrical beauty, but in my opinion, it would be even greater to visit this place in summer, when the fields will turn green, and the sky will be endlessly blue...

And then our group moved on to the last sight - famous Jongmyo (종묘), which is also World Cultural Heritage spot of Korea.

The most important thing that we can find in Jongmyo is a memorial service to the spirits of kings, which includes ceremony of bowing, singing and dancing. The ceremony, called Jongmyo Daeje, is held only once a year in May. It has been also designated by UNESCO as an Important Intangible Cultural Property. Personally, I am really eager to experience the ceremony first-hand next year^^ Anyone wants to go with me?

This is the square where the ceremony is held. Here dances and songs are performed, mostly by students, who study National Music.

This road I found really amazing. The sign in the middle reads :you can walk on the left and right side of it, but not in the central part, because this is the path, that spirits (!) use to walk.

Also inside one building we watched a short video about the memorial ceremony. Can't wait to see it with my own eyes!! 

So this was the end of our "Visit to the Kings". We were also given souvenirs: badges, a t-shirt and a small notebook. 

It was a very nice opportunity to experience Korean culture, I enjoyed my trip very much!! ^.^