In the middle of Jongno, underneath the Centropolis building, there’s a small exhibition hall called the Gonpyeong Historic Site Museum (공평도시유적전시관). It felt a little surreal to find a historic site preserved right in the heart of the city like this.

As it turns out, the museum was created to preserve building foundations and alleyways from the Joseon dynasty that were uncovered during the redevelopment of the Gongpyeong-dong area.

Going down to the basement level, you can see old house foundations beneath a glass floor, and walk along a path that follows the old alleyways in between them. The exhibition is set up so that visitors walk directly over the glass floor, looking down to take in the full scale of this massive urban historic site.

It was a strange feeling to realize that this same spot, now filled with buildings and a wide road, once had houses and people walking through narrow alleys, centuries ago.

Looking at the individual artifacts was interesting, but what I liked most was being able to walk along the actual traces of the old alleyways themselves.

Rather than a flashy exhibition, this is a place where you can quietly look into how the city of Seoul was built up in layers over time.

I think Korea has really gotten quite good at this kind of artifact preservation and exhibition.

The Gonpyeong Historic Site Museum probably isn’t worth a special trip on its own, but if you happen to be passing through Jongno or Insadong, it’s a nice place to stop by for a little while.

Info

Gonpyeong Historic Site Museum

B1, Centropolis Building, 26 Ujeongguk-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul

• Hours: 09:00–18:00 (closed Mondays)

• Admission: Free

• Guided tours: 11:00 / 14:00 / 16:00 (same-day reservation available)