The Kaesong Namdaemun is the south gate of the old walled city of

Kaesong Kaesong (, ; ) is a special city in the southern part of North Korea (formerly in North Hwanghae Province), and the capital of Korea during the Taebong kingdom and subsequent Goryeo dynasty. The city is near the Kaesong Industrial Region cl ...

, North Korea. Constructed between 1391 and 1393, it is the only one of the original seven citadel gates to survive mostly intact into the present. Started at the end of the Koryo period in 1391, it was completed three years later under the succeeding

Joseon Joseon ( ; ; also romanized as ''Chosun''), officially Great Joseon (), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom w ...

dynasty. It features a stone base topped by a wooden pavilion; however, the pavilion seen today is a 1954 reconstruction as the original was destroyed in 1950 by American bombing during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

. The gate houses the Yŏnbok Bell (), cast in 1346 and weighing 14 tonnes. Recovered from Yŏnbok Temple when it was destroyed by fire in 1563, the bell was used to call out the hours until the early 20th century. The gate is National treasure of North Korea no.124.

References

Kaesong Gates in Korea Gates in North Korea National Treasures of North Korea Demolished buildings and structures in North Korea Historic Monuments and Sites in Kaesong Korea World Heritage Sites in North Korea Buildings and structures demolished in the 16th century {{NorthKorea-struct-stub

See also

References