The Garden Palace: Toksu-Gung
Near City Hall, Seoul.
Toksu-Gung: The Palace of Virtuous Longevity. Toksu Palace was originally a royal villa built to appease the grandson of King Sejong (the 7th King) in the mid-15th century, who was passed over (twice) for king. This Prince, Wolsan was loved and respected by all, including his younger brother Songjong who became the 9th king.
The entrance to Toksu-Gung is the austere Taehan-mun gate, which leads to a lawn and a tree lined avenuette. At the base of this lawn is a statue of King Sejong himself, the man who set a team of scholars to devise the Korean script, 'Han-gul'.
This picture should provide you with an idea of how 'gardeny' Toksu-gung is.
I love the Rice Paper windows, the gorgeous eaves sporting ceramic roof tiles, the rounded exposed beams supporting the eaves, and the wonderful colours.
I was going to include a picture of the huge statue of King Sejong that is situated at the rear of the palace.. But unfortunately when taking that photo, my camera only yielded half-heartedly,and so the shot is a little fuzzy, Schade!