Deoksugung Palace
Just down the street from Namdeamun market and gate, is the Deoksugung
Palace. One of the more heavily used palaces Deoksugung is also one of
the smaller palaces, making it a good place for tired, jet lagged first
day visitors.(Which certainly described us) As with almost all of the
older bits of Seoul's history, it is embedded directly in the modern
city.
We're looking out of the main
gate of the palace, into the heart of the city, which makes quite a
striking contrast.
As you enter the palace, you are confronted by this rather impressive
statue of King Sejong, fouth member of the Joseon dynasty, and creator
(or more likely sponsor) of the korean hanjul writing system.
![Statue of king Sejong](Sejong.jpg)
The palace buildings are primarily decorated with a distinctive
pattern, one found throughout the palaces in Seoul
![Roofline decoration](Roofline.jpg)
Most of the rooflines also carry an interesting collective of
guardians. from the folks story of the "monkey king"
![Monkey King rooftop guardians](MonkeyKing.jpg)
The interiors are magnificantly painted
![](Interior1.jpg)
![](Interior2.jpg)
And these rather cool guys are supposed to scare the spirits off
![](Guardian.jpg)
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the Main korea trip page) or Forward to Myongdong
(c) 2006 David W. Levine