Explore Seoul

A village of five Joseon-period hanok houses at the foot of Namsan in Pil-dong, Jung District, opened in 1998 on a former military site. The houses, reconstructed from homes of officials and commoners that stood elsewhere in Seoul, surround a traditional garden with a pavilion and a stream, and a time capsule for Seoul's 600th anniversary lies nearby.

Myeongdong Cathedral is the seat of the Catholic Archdiocese of Seoul, a red- and grey-brick Gothic Revival church consecrated in 1898. It was built with the support of the Paris Foreign Missions Society; its crypt holds relics of Korean martyrs, and in the 1970s and 1980s it served as a refuge for pro-democracy protesters.

Sungnyemun, also called Namdaemun, is the southern main gate of the Joseon-era Seoul City Wall, first built in 1398 and rebuilt in 1447. A two-storey wooden pavilion stands on a stone base pierced by an arched passage; after an arson fire destroyed much of the woodwork in 2008, the gate was restored and reopened in 2013.

Deoksugung is a royal palace in central Seoul, first used as a temporary residence during the Imjin War of 1592–1598 and made the main palace of the Korean Empire by Emperor Gojong in 1897. Traditional halls such as the throne hall Junghwajeon stand beside Western-style buildings, including the stone Seokjojeon completed in 1910.

Jongmyo is the royal ancestral shrine of the Joseon dynasty, built in 1394 when King Taejo moved the capital to Seoul and rebuilt in the early 17th century after the Japanese invasions. Its long main hall, Jeongjeon, holds the spirit tablets of kings and queens, and the Jongmyo Jerye rite with court music is still held each year.

Jogyesa is the chief temple of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, in central Seoul near Insa-dong. Founded in 1910 as Gakhwangsa and given its present name in 1954, it centres on a large painted main hall, the Daeungjeon, beside an old lacebark pine that is a protected natural monument; the temple also runs a templestay programme.

Changgyeonggung is a Joseon palace next to Changdeokgung, first built by King Sejong in 1418 for his retired father and enlarged in 1483. Its throne hall Myeongjeongjeon dates from 1616; under Japanese rule the grounds became a zoo and park, removed in 1983. The Chundangji pond and a glass greenhouse from 1909 stand in the garden.

Heunginjimun, also called Dongdaemun, is the eastern main gate of the Joseon-era Seoul City Wall, standing at Jongno 6-ga. First built in 1398, the present structure dates from 1869: a two-storey wooden pavilion on a stone base with an arched passage, protected by a semicircular outer wall known as the ongseong.

Changdeokgung is a Joseon royal palace founded in 1405 east of Gyeongbokgung. Rebuilt after the 1592 invasion, it was the kings' main residence for more than two centuries, its halls set into the wooded hills; the throne hall Injeongjeon faces a stone court, and the rear garden Huwon, with pavilions and ponds, is seen on timed tours. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Gyeongbokgung is the main royal palace of the Joseon dynasty, founded in 1395 in northern Seoul. Burned in 1592, rebuilt under King Gojong in the 1860s and largely dismantled under Japanese rule, it has been restored since 1990; visitors see the Geunjeongjeon throne hall, the Gyeonghoeru pavilion on its pond and the guard ceremony at Gwanghwamun.

A former prison in Seodaemun District, opened by the Japanese colonial authorities in 1908, where Korean independence activists such as Yu Gwan-sun were held, tortured and executed. Closed in 1987, it reopened in 1998 as a history hall; eleven original buildings, including red-brick cell blocks and the execution building, stand in Seodaemun Independence Park.

Bongeunsa is a Buddhist temple of the Jogye Order on the slope of Sudosan in Gangnam, across the road from the COEX complex. Founded in 794 by the Silla monk Yeonhoe and named Bongeunsa in 1498, it was largely rebuilt after a fire in 1939; its Panjeon hall keeps woodblocks of the Flower Garland Sutra carved in 1855.