Can you imagine what Seoul was like three hundred years ago?
To find out this, we could go to museums and see old paintings that depicted the scenery of the past. It's not that fascinating though, is it? If so, National Museum of Korea, a representative Korean history museum, must have been packed with people. Well, but the reality is..
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| A few visitors in National Museum of Korea - taken in 2018 |
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National Museum of Korea - taken in 2018 So quiet😂 |
It is true that National Museum of Korea is a good museum, and it's worth visiting!
But, I would like to show you another one!
Seoul, 300 hundred years ago
It seems to me that Seoul resembles the city of Pompeii in a way.
Like volcanic ash that had covered the city of Pompeii over a millennium, under the modernized Seoul there seems to be layers that include a lot of stories.
When I first got to know and see this hidden place in 2017, I was so fascinated with its scenery and the story behind it.
Jeong Seon (1676-1759), a Korean landscape painter, drew a part of Inwang Mountain about 300 years ago. There was a little stone bridge on the valley, and there were four men looking at the mountain.
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| Suseongdong (수성동) - Jeong Seon (1676-1759) (Korean landscape painter) |
It was not nature that changed itself but us who changed nature.
We, Seoul metropolitan government, restored the scenery as it used to be.
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| Suseongdong Valley 수성동 계곡 ( Feb 2021) |
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| Suseongdong Valley ( May 2018) - greener in Spring |
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| Suseongdong Valley ( May 2018) |
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| Suseongdong Valley ( Feb 2021) |
Apart from this beautiful scenery of the painting, they also restored its surroundings.
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| nice pathway next to the valley |
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| Jeongja(traditional Korean pavilion for enjoying the nature) next to the valley |
It's such a nice place to relax, especially in the centre of Seoul. It only takes 10 minutes from the nearest subway station.
Listen to the nature 🐦
Before the restoration
After the Korean war, to resolve the housing shortage problem the then-president ordered to build apartments in several spots in Seoul. I presume the reason why this spot was selected was the land price was lower at the time due to its location, at the foot of a mountain.
In the 1970s, nine apartments were constructed in front of the valley. Blocking the view of the mountain was unavoidable. And the valley was forgotten by people.
No one could ever have imagined the scenery of Jeong Seon's painting behind this enormous building.
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| There were apartment buildings in the entrance of the valley - in 2009 Photo source : Kakao Map |
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| Apartments surrounding the valley - in 2008 Photo source : taken by 옥인콜렉티브 |
In 2012, Seoul decided to restore the valley, starting demolishing all apartment buildings.
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| After demolishing the apartment - in 2020 Photo source : Kakao Map |
Storing another story
Having said that, it must have been not easy for the residents to leave their homes. Although they unintentionally occupied nature, it is true that it was someone's sweet home. To store their memories, three architects, Okin Collective, teamed up to record the story of the apartment as well as that of the residents. Next to the valley, a little part of the apartment building remains, to remember another story.
Our history, our story
It is true that we were not that good at discovering and preserving the past, perhaps because of historical events that we went through over the last century. Rather than moving towards the future in harmony with the past, we had to push forward with our development.
Fortunately, we are changing and become more conscious of things we have to hold dear.
I hope more stories that are sleeping under Seoul will be revealed, so I can communicate more stories of Seoul to you.
Let's take a walk. I'm going to show you another one.😀
to be continued in the next posting...
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