[Harumanbo] Enjoying Youth in Daehangno and Overlooking Seoul at Naksan Park... Hyehwa Station

Editor's NoteThe subway is a mode of transportation that anyone can easily access and travel safely, and it is also an important point for daily walking. We introduce walkable spots around subway stations.

The course introduced this time is Hyehwa Station on Seoul Metropolitan Subway Line 4. The name Hyehwa comes from Hyehwamun (East Small Gate), one of the four small gates of the Hanyang Fortress, which appears when you go north from Hyehwa Station. Nearby places such as Hyehwa Rotary also take their names from here.

The area around Hyehwa Station is a representative youthful street in Seoul, closely connected with Marronnier Park, small theaters in Daehangno, campuses such as Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul National University Yeongeon Campus (medical field), and Korea National Open University. The center of this area is undoubtedly Marronnier Park.

Marronnier is a tree also called the "Western horse chestnut" or "spiny horse chestnut." Its name comes from the French word for chestnut (marron), referring to the chestnut-shaped fruit it bears. It is also famous as a street tree planted along the Champs-?lys?es in Paris, France. However, it is known that most of the trees planted around Marronnier Park are not true Marronnier trees but rather a similar species called the "Japanese horse chestnut."

Seoul night view overlooking Naksan Park
[Photo by Seoul City]

The next destination is Naksan Park. It is part of the Naksan section of the Hanyang Fortress Trail, where the Seoul City Wall remains. The view of Seoul from the fortress trail is diverse, and the night view, especially, is considered the pinnacle. Nearby is Ihwa-dong Village, famous for its mural village.

On the 23rd, the area around Heunginjimun viewed from Heunginjimun Park in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

Today's final destination is Heunginjimun (Dongdaemun). Unlike other fortress gates such as Sungnyemun (Namdaemun), Donuimun (Seodaemun), and Sukjeongmun (Bukdaemun), which have three-character names, Heunginjimun uniquely has a four-character name. For feng shui reasons, as the earth energy (jigi) was considered weak, the particle "ji (之)" was added to boost the energy, and the nameplate was made square rather than rectangular. Another unique feature of Heunginjimun compared to the other four main gates is the presence of a half-moon-shaped outer fortress. This outer fortress, called "Ongseong," surrounds the gate and is named after its jar-like shape ("Ong" meaning jar). It is a defensive structure designed so that attackers at the gate can be attacked simultaneously from the sides and rear, like "rats in a jar."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.