Yeongneung and Nyeongneung Royal Tombs, Yeoju

Queen Soheon died in 1446 and Sejong had a tomb cut with two chambers under one mound — hers to the east, his own prepared to the west. He was buried in it four years later. No Joseon royal tomb had been built that way before, and the arrangement set the pattern for those that followed. It was not built here. The original site was west of Heonneung near Seoul, and the court argued for years that the ground was unlucky before moving the whole tomb to Yeoju in 1469. The old stone furniture — the offering table, the lamps, the pillars, the spirit-path stele — was buried where it stood rather than carried along. Twelve panels of stone railing ring the mound. The gate, the statue of Sejong and the exhibition hall all date from a restoration in 1977. King Hyojong's tomb, confusingly also called Yeongneung though written with a different character, is on the same grounds.

Original Text

Where it is

Region

Yeoju, Gyeonggi

Designation

Historic Site · 사적