5 Jun 2019 - Seoul Day 5: Namsangol Hanok Village

From Myeongdong, we took the subway to Chungmuro station, which is just one stop away, to visit Namdangol Hanok Village.

Hanok Village in Pul-dong on the northern foot of Namsan was a famous summer vacation spot during Joseon Dynasty with its alley and Cheonugak Pavilion.  It was also called Cheonghak-dong, the place where the gods live, because of its beautiful scenery.  This place was Hanyang Top 5 picturesque sceneries.  City of Seoul moved and restored five hanok houses of folklore Heritage that were scattered in the city and established Namsangol Hanok Village on 10 April 1998.

Upon entering from the front gate, we got a taste of the traditional life while escaping from the bustling city life of modern times. The traditional garden with its pavilion and the traditional houses create a peaceful ambiance before the forested Namsan Mountain.

This village has five restored traditional Korean houses, a pavilion, traditional garden, performance arts stage and a time capsule plaza, making it a perfect spot for both locals and tourists to take a leisure walk.

This is the Cheonugak Pavillion (泉雨阁), facing the Cheonghakji Pond.

The following house was built by master carpenter Yi Seung-eop in the 1860s, which participated in the reconstruction of Gyeongbukgung Palace from 1865 to 1868.  A special roofing technique was used for the anchae (inner quarters), kitchen and the main room, whose front and back roofs are different in length.  The banisters and toenmaru (wooden porch) all around the anchae depicts the convenient and practical beauty of classical architecture.  This house clearly shows the Seoul residential culture and construction techniques in late Joseon dynasty.

Throughout the visit, we saw many olden days Korean buildings which allow us to imagine the life and culture during those times.

We saw things such as stone stoves, water well and sauce/wine containers, similar to those that we saw in Korean dramas, for eg. 大长今.

We continued to walk through the alleys to different parts of the village.

There are some buildings that allow us to have a look into the interior of the houses.

At the back of the village is the Seoul Millennium Time Capsule, commemorating Seoul’s 600 Year Anniversary.  It was buried in 1994 at the highest point of the village and is scheduled to be reopened four hundred years later on 29 November 2394, which will mark the city's 1000th anniversary.

The square is built in the shape of a meteorite crater, symbolizing perpetuality, while the Time Capsule is made in the shape of the Boshingak Bell.  600 items were buried in this time capsule.

At the top of the hill stands the Mangbungnu Pavillion (望北楼).  As everyone was feeling tired, I'm the only one who climbed up the steps to reach it.

As we walked back to the village, we came to a park where there are traditional Korean games such as the following.  Jerlene and Javier had fun trying to throw the canes into the cylinders.  I remember seeing this in some movies showing the ancient times.

When you are not sure what to do with the drawing on the ground, just RUN!

We spent more than 1.5hrs visting this beautiful village and left at around 7pm.

Instead of taking the subway back to Myeongdong, we decided to walk which only took us about 10 minutes.

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