Suwon Hwaseong Haenggung {Palace}

A few days ago, I talked about our trip to the Suwon Fortress and how much fun we had. Today I wanted to share with you the other half of our day trip: 

The Hwaseong Haenggung. 

{The view of the palace from the fortress} 

This palace was built in 1789, the 13th year of King Jeongjo's reign. It was the largest and most beautiful Detached Palace at the time of its construction because it had almost 600 rooms and was shaped like the main palace in Seoul. 

When Matt and I were researching this trip we saw that there was a changing of the guards ceremony every Sunday at 2:00. {The Jang Yong Yeong Guards Ceremony} On Sunday, we got to the fortress at 1:00 and immediately started to find our way to the palace. We got completely lost! We were inside the fortress walls and could not figure out where the dang palace was. After getting really frustrated we just decided to head back to where we started and try finding the palace by walking on the fortress. 

{Helpful Hint: If you start at the Janganmun gate and walk straight down the main road for what seems like forever, the palace will be on your right.} 

After about two hours we finally found the palace. {But we missed the guards ceremony, so we will have to go back to see it.} 

{Sinpungnu- "The King's new hometown" - The main entrance to the palace.} 

 {Zelkova- This tree has protected Suwon since before the palace was built. It is believed that anyone that makes a wish it will come true. People write their wishes and tie them around the tree. You can see the strings of the wishes in this picture.} 

 {King Yeongjo put his son, Sado Seja, in a rice chest like this because the King didn't think his son was fit to be king. Sado died in the duiju (rice chest) of starvation. Sado Seja was the father of King Jeongjo- the king who built this palace. Now people can pay to get in the rice chest and feel how Sado felt. Matt and I opted out of that experience.} 

 {Bongsudang- This is the main building of the palace. The 61st birthday of the King's mother was held here.} 

 {The Servants Quarters.} 

{Naknamheon- Several events and banquets were held here.}  

{Deukjungjeong- The king practiced archery here.} 

{Woonhangak- This was built in 1801. It was used for morning assembly and it holds a portrait of the king.} 

You will see that this building is not as colorful as the other pictures I have shown you. This is because this part of the palace has not been restored. During the Japanese colonial era, most places of cultural value were destroyed. In the 1980s, the people of Korea formed a Committee for Restoration and Repair. Their mission is to restore what was destroyed by the Japanese. The palace and fortress were finished in 2003. 

 I was about 85% on board for running through these fountains- I was so hot by the end of the day. 

If you want to see both the fortress and the palace, but you don't have enough time to walk around, I would recommend the Hwaseong Trolley. It goes around the fortress and drops you pretty close to the palace. It is 1,500 won per person. Plus, it's shaped like a dragon, so you can't go wrong. 

{Dad you will be proud that we opted to WALK the fortress} 

Again if you find yourself in Suwon, you need to make a stop here. 

{For the fortress, palace, and cultural foundation it is only 3,000 won} Matt and I will be going back to see the guards ceremony, and the other performances they have. 

We had loads of fun and we hope you enjoyed the pictures!

*Note: All information for this post was received through the signs and brochure given at the fortress and palace.