Hi,
Leaving #Bukchon #Hanok village, as you can read here in my previous post.
Some photos taken in #Insadong (인사동) and more generally in Jongno-gu ( #Jongno District ) in my long walk around the area.
The whole surrounding area gives a pleasant walk with autumn colors among old houses and modern buildings, art galleries and characteristic stores.
Insa-dong was the neighborhood inhabited by government officials. The National Department of Painting existed here and at the end of the #Joseon Dynasty (the killing of the Empress #Myeongseong) the Japanese occupation forced many residents to sell houses or move, leaving the residential area to become an area for antiques trade and expropriated cultural assets.
At the end of the occupation, with the liberation of #Korea, this remained an area rich in art, culture and commerce. Art galleries, ancient and modern shops for traditional korean paper called #Hanji (한지) and painting and calligraphy tools, ceramics and much more handicrafts that can be purchased throughout the area, which has become a tourist attraction since the 1960s.
The main street Insadong-gil is the route of an ancient stream that divided two inhabited areas whose names ended in "In" and "Sa" ... from the union of these the neighborhood Insa-dong was formed.
Insadong-gil is the most visited pedestrian street by tourists and maintains the artistic and cultural spirit by combining the ancient with the modern.
Here is a shopping mall that is also a tourist destination, the Ssamzigil (쌈지길), which offers local handicrafts, restaurants, and rest stops.
Upstairs you can get sweets with a "poop" theme. In these cafes you can drink coffee in toilet-shaped cups.
In #Korea it is not taboo to talk about bowel movements, and basically, even though the globalized market now offers junk food everywhere, there is a lot of value on healthy Korean food.
From the top floor, you can appreciate the skyline of mixed-design buildings.
The inner part of the town still consists of old houses.
It is easy for the buildings no matter how small to have a rooftop on which to relax under the sun and drink tea.
Again, walking through the narrow streets and among the restaurants that face these, it is easy to imagine the vitality that fills the streets at dinnertime.
A small store for toys and artistic manufacture.
Fun fact: With the influence of Japanese robot cartoons, Korea also had its own Robot (taking heavy inspiration from Mazinga Z, bordering on plagiarism) created to give children a Korean hero in the wake of Japan's more emblazoned heroes.
The author gave the robot the name #Taekwon V (로보트 태권 V). Taekwon-do is the Korean martial arts discipline.
There were also sequels of this Robot (also broadcast in the USA, but under another name) in animation and comic books.
Leaving now the inner zone, we return to the network of city streets in Jongno-gu, and among them the wide Yulgok-ro that, among modern-designed buildings, leads us to an ancient watchtower defending the Royal Palace not far away.
The ancient 14th century #Dongshipjagak (#동십자각) is a replica to show the ancient Korean art and serves as a landmark.
The original tower was destroyed during Japanese colonialism (which also destroyed a large part of the Royal Palace).
Along the perimeter of the grand grounds of the Royal Palace, you can still explore distincitve inner areas with small stores and old houses, tea rooms, still art galleries, photo sets in Korean clothes.
You can also find demolished houses and redevelopable land. The walk leads toward Hanok village.
A small restaurant.
A chinese church
Korean dresses (Hanbok) for photoshoots.
An art gallery
Details.
jars to hold food and drink
school uniforms
MMCA Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art
Hope you enjoyed this long post!
I will focus my next post on the streets of Jongno-gu and #Tapgol Park (탑골공원) (a really important park)
The place is so beautiful. Love the photos. Korea had always been on my top list of countries to visit if ever I get a chance to travel overseas.
Absolutely a country to explore and fall in love with in 3 minutes
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I have been fascinated by Seoul for so long I hope to make a trip there one day