Pungnammun Gate, Jeonju

An eupseong is a walled town built to enclose a settlement that served as the centre of local administration. Pungnammun was the south gate of the old Jeonju Eupseong. It was destroyed during the Jeongyu War, the second Japanese invasion of Korea, in 1597, the 30th year of King Seonjo, and when the walls and gate were rebuilt in 1734, the 10th year of King Yeongjo, the gate was named Myeonggyeollu. The name 'Pungnammun' dates from 1768, the 44th year of King Yeongjo, when Provincial Governor Hong Nak-in rebuilt the gate after it had burned down in a fire the previous year. Under Emperor Sunjong, the city walls and gates were demolished as part of urban planning, and Pungnammun suffered heavy damage as a result; the gate seen today regained its original appearance through a three-year repair project begun in 1978. The ground floor measures three kan (bays) across the front and three kan to the side, while the upper floor measures three kan across the front and one kan to the side. The roof is a paljak, or hip-and-gable roof, which forms the shape of the character 八 ("eight") when seen from the side. The decorative bracket structure supporting the eaves is placed only above the columns. In plan, the upper floor appears noticeably narrower than the ground floor because the inner columns of the ground floor were extended straight up to the second storey, where they serve as its corner columns — a technique rarely seen in Korean gate-tower architecture. The carved decoration on the structural members, and the dragon's head carved atop the column of the central bay on the ground floor, are typical of the highly decorative, elaborate architecture of the late Joseon period. Pungnammun is an important source for the study of traditional gate-tower architecture.

AI Translation

Visiting

Closed

N/A (Open all year round)

Parking

Not available

Information

+82-63-287-6008

Visitor information: Korea Tourism Organization · KOGL Type 1

Where it is

Region

Jeonju, Jeonbuk

Designation

Treasure · 보물