Goryeo Palace Site, Ganghwa

In 1232 the Goryeo court moved to Ganghwa island to get out of reach of Mongol cavalry, and built a palace here in 1234. There were secondary and temporary palaces besides the main one. The principal gate was Seungpyeongmun, with three-storey gate towers to either side and another gate to the east. The court held out here for thirty-nine years, cutting the eighty thousand blocks of the Tripitaka Koreana while it did. When terms were agreed in 1270 and the capital moved back, the palace was pulled down. The island kept its role as the place to run to. Joseon built a travelling palace on the old Goryeo ground in 1631; Qing troops took it in 1637. The provincial offices raised afterwards were burned by the French in 1866, and two buildings survive from all of it.

Original Text

Where it is

Region

Ganghwa, Incheon

Designation

Historic Site · 사적