Gyeonghoeru Pavilion - A Banquet Hall on the Water

Photo: Noh Mun Duek, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)

A stop on Seoul Palaces, Bukchon and Insadong, a free self-guided tour.

Walk west from the throne hall and the palace suddenly opens onto a broad pond. Rising from a small island in the water is Gyeonghoeru, the royal banquet hall. Kings used it to feast foreign envoys, honor their officials and enjoy the view of the water and mountains from the upper floor.

The first pavilion went up in 1412, under King Taejong. It burned in 1592, and the building before you dates from the 1867 rebuilding. Count the stone pillars underneath: there are 48 of them, holding up a wooden hall with 35 rooms. The design plays with symbolic numbers - the 24 outer columns are linked to the 24 seasonal divisions of the old farming calendar.

Three stone bridges connect the island to the shore, but most visitors admire the pavilion from the bank. Find a spot along the path and slow down for a minute. On a still day the whole pavilion appears again, upside down, in the water.

Getting here: Leave the throne hall courtyard by its west side; the pond is a two-minute walk to the northwest.

Did you know?: Until 2007, Gyeonghoeru was printed on the back of South Korea's 10,000 won note - with King Sejong, whose statue you met at the start, on the front.

Photo op: Stand on the east bank of the pond and frame the pavilion with its reflection, with Inwangsan mountain behind it.

More on Wikipedia: Gyeonghoeru · Taejong of Joseon · Gyeongbokgung

Gyeonghoeru Pavilion - A Banquet Hall on the Water

Stops on this tour