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Historic Monuments and Sites in Kaesong
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How it came to be
Kaesong lies in the south of North Korea and was once called Song'ak. In 919 Wang Geon, founder of the Goryeo dynasty, made it his capital, and it remained the capital of Goryeo until the new Joseon dynasty moved the court to Hanyang, present-day Seoul, in 1394. The World Heritage site has 12 components, among them the geomantic layout of the old capital, the palace site of Manwoldae, Wang Geon's tomb, and the city walls and gates.
Also included are an astronomical and meteorological observatory, two schools and commemorative steles. Goryeo's highest academy was given the name Songgyungwan in 1308; it burned in 1592, and the buildings rebuilt from 1602 have housed the Koryo Museum since 1987. The stone Sonjuk Bridge, built in 1290, is known as the place where Chong Mong-ju, the Confucian scholar loyal to Goryeo, was ambushed and killed, reportedly on the orders of Yi Pang-won, son of the founder of Joseon.
The tomb of King Gongmin, the 31st Goryeo king, was begun after the death of his Mongol-born queen in 1365 and finished in 1372. Buddhist, Confucian, Taoist and geomantic ideas are combined in these buildings, which reflect the shift from Buddhism to neo-Confucianism in East Asia. The site was inscribed in 2013.
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