The 4 Great and 4 Small Gates of Seoul

Let me show you the historic gates of Seoul

Small Southen Gate or commonly known as Gwanghuimun

Let me start my Seoul tour with the famous gates. To get a better orientation of Seoul and the history behind my upcoming posts, I've made two useful pages for you:

• An overview of Greater Seoul with a map
• A timeline of the history of Seoul

If you travel to Seoul one day, you'll see how the old and historic is so close to the new and modern. And that makes this city so amazing. One of the first historic sights you will see are the famous gates or mun (in Korean: 문, in Chinese 門 mén). Sadly, not all of them are preserved. Some are being restored, some are gone forever, destroyed during wars or during Japanese occupation.

These gates were entrances to the historic city of Seoul, that became the capital city of Korea in 1394 at the beginning of the Joseon Dynasty's rule, in a time, where Koreans still used Chinese characters. Parts of the historic wall were seen near my hostel in Hyehwa and a small gate was also located there. That made me very interested and the first thing I wanted to see, was Dongdaemun or the "Great Eastern Gate", which was only 2 subway stations away.

Here is the list of the 8 historic gates of Seoul:

1. There are 4 Great gates (daemun) of Seoul:
   
   1 Dong·dae·mun or the Great Eastern Gate [동대문/東大門]
   
   
   Also known as Heunginjumun or "The Gate of Rising Benevolence" [흥인지/興仁之門], built in 1398. This one is currently the only one intact and fully restored. I've seen it and it looks amazing. More about it in the posts to come.
   
   2 Nam·dae·mun or the Great Southern Gate [남대문/南大門]
   
   

   Also known as Sungnyemun or "The Gate of Exalted Ceremony" [숭례/崇禮門], built in1398. This gate is currently being restored, you can't see much of it. It was set on fire in 2008 by an crazy arsonist, that destroyed great parts of it. I went there and took some photos, so you can see how it looks like, when Koreans restore old buildings.

   
   3 Seo·dae·mun or the Great Western Gate [서대문/西大門]
   
   

   Also known as Donuimun or "The Gate of Loyalty" [敦義門], built in 1396. This gate was destroyed by the Japanese in 1915 during their occupation of Korea¹ (1910-1945). It hasn't been restored, you can't see it today anymore.

   
   
   4 Buk·dae·mun or the Great Northern Gate [북대문/北大門]
   
   
   Also known as Sukjeongmun or "The Gate of Tranquility" [숙정/肅靖門], built in 1396. This gate was reopened in 2006.² It's located in the northern part of Seoul's center on the Bukak mountain, you can see the location here. I haven't seen it during my trip.
   
   
   
2. There are four Small gates (somun) of Seoul:
   
   1 Dong·so·mun or Small Eastern Gate [동소문/東小門]
   
   
   Also called Hyehwamun or "The Gate of Wisdom" [혜화문/惠化門]. My hostel was located near this lovely gate and you can also see parts of the historic wall nearby. It's located in the Hyehwa district north east of the historic center of Seoul. The gate looks like new and is always closed. It's on top of a small hill, but you can make some lovely photos. More about that later in my posts.
   
   2 Nam·so·mun or the Small Southern Gate [남소문/南小門]
   
   

   Also called Gwanghuimun "The Gate of Bright Prosperity" [광희문/光熙門]. I've seen this gate, it was part of my plan to find it. If you see the map of Seoul, it's located near Dongdaemun, the Great Eastern Gate. You can even walk from one to another, it may take you 15min. More about it in my post.

   
   3 Seo·so·mun or the Small Western Gate [서소문/西小門]
   
   Also called Souimun or "The Gate of Clear Justice" [소의문/昭義門]. This one was destroyed in 1915 by the Japanese. Here are some photos of the remains of the gate.
   
   4 Buk·so·mun or the Small Northern Gate [북소문/北小門]
   
   

   Also called Changuimun or "The Gate of Fairness" [숙정문/彰義門]. Beautiful small gate in the northern part of historic Seoul, which I unfortunately haven't seen. Here's a photo of it on Flickr by Robert Koehler.

   
   [MAIN Seoul page][Footnotes: [1][2][Source of Info][Photo by MKL, 2010]