Dave McNally Photography

Story, pho­tos by Dave McNally

In 1910, the Japan­ese empire forced Korea to give up sov­er­eignty. A once proud peo­ple stood by pas­sively as the enemy from the south took com­plete con­trol of the Korean penin­sula, claim­ing rights to the land and peo­ple. With an end to the Korean monar­chy, the last of the roy­als took refuge in the sprawl­ing Changdeok Palace complex.

Once the place for relax­ation, games and laugh­ter, Changdeok Palace was the home of Korea’s last king, who lived here in humil­ity until his death in 1926.

Today, the regal past comes alive across the 110 acres and the remain­ing 13 build­ings and 28 pavil­ions. But it is just a shadow of the beauty that once was.

Con­struc­tion began at Changdeok Palace in 1405. Seven years later, the rulers of the Joseon Dynasty moved in, enjoy­ing the “Palace of Pros­per­ing Virture.”

Dur­ing its his­tory, the palace has been destroyed sev­eral times. Dur­ing the Japan­ese inva­sion of 1592, the palace was burned to the ground.  The Korean roy­als recov­ered and rebuilt the com­plex in 1609. But, it fell vic­tim to arson again dur­ing a polit­i­cal revolt in 1623.

The Chi­nese invaded, but the palace remained intact. Changdeok Palace was the seat of gov­ern­ment until 1872.

Today, vis­i­tors take guided tours through the palace grounds.

One of the unique aspects of Changdeok Palace is the “Secret Gar­den.” The lotus pond and pavil­ions are land­mark of Korean archi­tec­ture from the Joseon Dynasty. The royal fam­ily would find relax­ing here in the lap of luxury.

The gate to Changdeok Palace was rebuilt in 1607 and is Seoul’s old­est sur­viv­ing wooden gate. The struc­ture is Korea’s National Trea­sure No. 383.