Featured in many K-dramas, the Gyeonghui Palace is one of Seoul’s five grand palaces, built during the Joseon Kingdom (1392–1901).
The Seoul city government announced, to renovate its vicinity and turn it into a large historical and cultural park about 10 times the size of Seoul Plaza.
The project is expected to be completed by the year 2035. An extensive green area will be built in and around Gyeonghui Palace, in addition to the Joseon castle walls around Donuimun, also known as West Gate, or Seodaemun, being restored as part of the project.
According to the city government the four public institutions around Gyeonghui Palace, – the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education and the Donuimun Museum Village, will be included in the new project for a historical and cultural park. The Seoul Museum of History will be built next to the palace.
Gyeonghui Palace’s historical garden will be established this year by the next ten years, the municipal government intends to repair roughly 136,000 square meters of the palace and the adjacent public area.
A palace forest and a king’s garden will be recreated by renovating the palace’s main and other gates by removing elements not related to its historical setting, like roads for vehicles.
Even having a large open space in the middle of the city, the palace is not popular with the citizens. The daily footfall of visitors is quite low at Gyeonghui (only 1,500) compared to Gyeongbok Palace and Deoksu Palace which receive 57,000 and 28,000 visitors daily respectively.
Gyeonghui Palace was the residence of the Joseon Dynasty’s (1300–1910) royal family from the late. Completed in 1623, this is where Kings Sukjong, Yeongjo, and Jeongjo dwelled before. Later, much of it was lost during the Japanese colonial rule from 1910 to 1945.
One can watch the guard-changing ceremony at Gyeongbokgung Palace and stroll through the palace’s elegant pavilions and halls.
The palace was also a filming location for many K-dramas, including “Queen In-Hyun’s Man,” “The Moon Embracing the Sun,” and “Rooftop Prince.”
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