Jongchinbu Site Umul

Before Seoul's modern waterworks system was introduced in the early twentieth century, wells were the city's main source of drinking and everyday water. This well, located on the former site of Jongchinbu, the Joseon government office that managed the affairs of the royal clan, was made by joining two blocks of granite into a circular shape, with four lugs carved out at the top. The interior is built up with natural stones piled in a circular form, but this is not the well's original state: in 1984, during garden construction work at the Defense Security Command (Gimusa), the well's stones were discovered three metres underground, and the well was moved from its original location and newly reconstructed here. A single structure that would have served as a water-catching stone now sits inside it. Although they lack the four carved lugs, wells sharing the feature of two granite blocks joined into a circular shape, like this one, can also be found at Changdeokgung Palace and in the rear garden of Irodang Hall at Unhyeongung. This well has lost its original form through relocation, but judging from the weathering of its surface, it is thought to be a fairly old work made before the Enlightenment period of the late nineteenth century. Since it stands on a site east of Gyeongbokgung Palace once occupied by successive government office buildings, it appears to preserve the form of a well used at a Joseon government office.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Jongno-gu, Seoul

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료