Seoul Fortress Wall

The walls surrounding the old city of Seoul (known at the time as Hanyang) once stretched over 18 kilometers. It was built in 1397, but over the years the wall has been destroyed by several wars. Furthermore, the city of Seoul has greatly expanded beyond the walls and the old boundary is just one of the many remnants of the Joseon Dynasty that once ruled Korea for five centuries. Much of the wall has been rebuilt in an attempt to restore some of the significant history of the city while some sections are broken by large city streets, neighborhoods, and skyscrapers. During the Joseon Dynasty there were eight city gates located at cardinal points around the city. Currently, six of the eight gates still stand and they are considered to be important historical and cultural treasures.

 My journey around the wall began with a hike at Bukgaksan. It was there, I was greeted by enthusiastic young attendants who gave me a pass to see that part of the wall and a small map of the entire fortress wall. On the flip side of the map I found an outline of the wall with four points of interest. Each point of interest signified one of the main city gates (north, south, east, and west) and a space was given to place a stamp. I continued over to a small stamp counter where I placed my first of four stamps, the Sungnyemun, or North Gate stamp. Get all four stamps and you receive a badge. With time to spare, weekends to kill, I decided that I would go for the badge. 

This is the stamp challenge with an outline of the wall. The reverse side of this paper is a nicely detailed map of this part of Seoul.

This is the militarized part of the wall

Sungnyemun, North Gate

The next stamp on our way around the wall was located at Dongdaemun Gate. Dongdaemun is the west gate of the city and it is one of the two large gates. The area of Seoul where Dongdaemun is located is considered the fashion district. The gate itself has a large circular wall around one side of it giving the impression of a half circle when viewed from above. This circular wall was under restoration when we visited it. Looking north of the gate you can see the wall weaving up a hill through some neighborhoods and if you continue south of the gate you arrive at Dongdaemun History and Culture Park where parts of the original wall are unearthed along with other archeological remains. 

Mihaela gets her stamp at Dongdaemun Gate.

The part of the wall from Dongdaemun History and Culture Park

Stamp numbers three and four were placed on the last trip to the wall. Eager to see what the badge actually was, the plan was to knock off the last two in one day. Stepping out of an exit of Seoul Station we peered up the crowded street at our first target of the day, Namdaemun. Namdaemun is the southern gate. It is one of the two main gates, and it is named National Treasure No. 1. Located at the base of Namsan mountain, three other main Seoul sites are visible from the gate, Seoul Tower, Seoul City Hall, and Seoul Station. As it is centrally located, I have visited the site numerous times over the past year simply by passing by, usually on my way to Seoul Station. This time, we were prepared with our stamp maps and Mihai's good eye spotted the stamp fixed to a stone wall just to the right of the site's entrance. 

Namdaemun Gate

According to the Seoul Fortress Wall map, Donuimun, our final gate and stamp on our tour, wasn't so far from Namdaemun. Furthermore, we could combine this stamp search with a visit to a palace that we had wandered by numerous times without yet entering, as the backside of the palace connected with the route of the old city wall. The sun was up and people were out. It seemed like a fine time to visit Deoksugung Palace and it was, though a fall or spring visit would have surely been a better choice. Even though it is quite a bit smaller than some of the other palaces, Deoksugung may be my favorite palace thus far. I particularly like the combination of old, Korean-style architecture mixed with European-style buildings on site. There is also a Spanish church beyond the palace walls which offers an interesting backdrop.

Onward we went, searching for Donuimun, our final gate, our last stamp. The search took us through the ambassador section of town to a steep neighborhood where we climbed a hill along the fortress wall. From there, looking up, you can see how the wall snakes up one of the the three small mountains in this part of Seoul, Inwansan. Our search took us in a circle before we discovered that there is, in fact, no longer a Donuimun, as it was destroyed sometime during the Japanese colonial period. Our last stamp, our grand finale, took place at an entrance gate to a really big hospital. There on the side of the wall, we filled in that last empty space on our map with the stamp and handed our papers through the window to the attendant. He, in turn, handed us each a button pin with the outline of the wall on. We finally had our badges.

My high hopes had imagined the badge to be something more like a patch that I could sew on to my bag, but I suppose the button will do. The real point of this whole badge thing was to get us roaming around the city through historical parts, in search of cultural points, walking the same streets that both kings and peasants walked, and learning a bit about Korea. Despite the slight let down with Donuimun we continued on, catching a short view of Gyeonghuigung Palace as it was closing. Following the main road from the palace and the Seoul Museum of History we ended up at one of our preferred spots in Seoul, Gwanghwamun, to catch the day's last light.