Visit to the “Secret Gardens”

A beatiful day for a visit to Changdeok-gung, often but mistakingly refered to as “the Secret Gardens”. The Palace was constructed in 1405 (King Teajong) as a secondary palace to Geongbok-gung. Although the Japanese destroyed it in 1592, it was restored in 1610 and remained a royal living quarter until the last king died there in 1926 and the last Queen of the Jeosun dinasty died in 1966.The gardens are called secret as they are located behind the palace buildings and really meant for the royal family to recline, contemplate and study.In olden days, about 1,000 people would live and work in the palace grounds. The whole complex is on the UNESCO World Heritage list for its harmonious design.The visit was followed by a lunch as SanChon restaurant in Insadong which offers Korean Temple Cooking and worth re-visiting with family, friends or business partners.The tour and lunch were kindly organised and sponsored by Mr Woo Shim of Min ITS, for which the about 30 members and families were extremely grateful.