Donggung Palace and Wolji Pond
동궁과 월지
The best-known night view in Gyeongju, and the only one of the central sites that charges. The city warns that arriving near the 21:30 ticket cut-off may not get you in.
Language
Place information
- Korean name
- 동궁과 월지
- Address
- 102 Wonhwa-ro, Gyeongju-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do
- Getting there
- Bus Bus 10 / 11 · Wolseong-dong Community Centre stop (월성동주민센터, ID 01-280, Bus 10 and 11)
- Opening hours
- 09:00–22:00 (last entry 21:30)
- Hours notes
- Open every day of the year. Tickets can be bought in advance through the city's historic-site system at gjpass.kr. Parking at the site's own car park is free.
- Time needed
- 1 hour
- Admission
- ₩3,000–₩6,000
- Operated by
- Gyeongju City
Prices
| Adult(ages 19-64) | ₩3,000 |
|---|---|
| Youth(youth and soldiers, ages 13-18) | ₩2,000 |
| Child(ages 7-12) | ₩1,000 |
| Group(adult, group rate) | ₩2,400Youth groups KRW 1,600, child groups KRW 800. |
| Admission(residents of Gyeongju) | Free |
| Admission(visitors aged 6 and under or 65 and over) | Free |
| Admission(holders of a disability registration card, with a companion at grades 1-3) | Free |
| Admission(national-merit recipients, their spouses, and bereaved family holding a survivor's certificate, with one further companion at disability grade 1) | Free |
| Admission(basic-livelihood recipients; students need a list bearing the school principal's seal) | Free |
| Gyeongju 2-site combined ticket · Adult(ages 19-64) | ₩6,000Covers Daereungwon and Donggung and Wolji. |
| Gyeongju 2-site combined ticket · Youth(youth and soldiers, ages 13-18) | ₩4,000Covers Daereungwon and Donggung and Wolji. |
| Gyeongju 2-site combined ticket · Child(children, ages 7-12) | ₩2,000Covers Daereungwon and Donggung and Wolji. |
| Gyeongju 2-site combined ticket · Group(adult groups) | ₩4,800Covers Daereungwon and Donggung and Wolji. |
Source: Gyeongju Culture & Tourism — historic-site admission table ·
History
674
The pond is dug
The 14th year of King Munmu. The Samguk Sagi describes a large pond with three islands in it and twelve peaks raised along the north and east shores, planted with flowers and trees and stocked with rare birds and animals.
679
Donggung is built
After the unification of the Three Kingdoms, a detached palace for the crown princes goes up beside the water.
680
A dated brick
An excavated brick with a lotus-arabesque pattern carries the inscription "the second year of Jolo" — physical support for the record that Imhaejeon was built in King Munmu's reign.
931
The last banquet
King Gyeongsun, after Later Baekje's invasion, invited Wang Geon here and held a feast while pleading his position.
Joseon period
Anapji
The Dongguk Yeoji Seungnam records that "west of Anapji stands Imhaejeon". The Samguk Sagi mentions Imhaejeon but never Anapji — the pond's familiar name is a later one.
Colonial period
A railway
The site was badly damaged, including by a railway line laid across it.
1975
Excavation
Dredging and survey work identified 26 building sites around the pond, corridors among them.
1980
Restoration
Three of the five Silla building sites on the western shore were rebuilt. Those are the halls that light up after dark and appear a second time in the water.
2011
Its own name
The heritage listing was changed from "Imhaejeon Site, Gyeongju" to "Donggung Palace and Wolji Pond, Gyeongju".
What to see
Wolji Pond
Made in 674, according to the Samguk Sagi. Two hundred metres east to west and 180 north to south, with the southwest edge straight and the northeast broken into curves, so the whole pond is never visible from anywhere on it — it was built to read as a sea with no end. After it fell derelict in the Joseon period it was called Anapji, the pond of geese and ducks; it got its own name back in 2011.
Imhaejeon
The hall inside the eastern palace, used for banquets, councils and receiving guests. Its name means the hall that looks down on the sea, which is the clearest hint anyone left that the pond was built to be one. The Samguk Sagi puts the palace at 679, after unification.
Wolji Pond selected
Shared with other places
One ticket, several places
Gyeongju's type-2 combined heritage ticket covers Donggung and Wolji and Daereungwon. It is sold at both ticket offices, is valid for one day, and is non-refundable once either site has been visited.
Applies to: Daereungwon Tomb Complex
Gyeongju Culture & Tourism — historic-site admission table ·
Nearby
Gyeongju National Museum
The national museum of Silla. Four of the six gold crowns excavated from the tombs in central Gyeongju are administered here, as is the Divine Bell of King Seongdeok. After Daereungwon and Cheomseongdae — the tombs and the sky — it is the natural place to come and see what was inside the tombs.
Cheomseongdae Observatory
Small, free and always open. It takes ten minutes, so plan it as the link between Daereungwon and Donggung rather than a destination of its own.
Woljeonggyo Bridge
Free and open late, which makes it the easiest night stop in Gyeongju. The exhibition inside the gate towers covers the restoration itself.
Gyeongju Wonjo Kongguk
A sixty-year-old shop near the front gate of Daereungwon, serving warm soybean soup topped with black sesame, honey and a glutinous-rice doughnut.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best time to visit?
Dusk. The reflected night view needs the lights on and the sky not yet dark, which is a narrow window — and the busiest one. Be inside before it rather than arriving during it.
Stories about this place
- Gyeongju in a Day on Foot: Daereungwon to Woljeonggyo
A walking day that starts at the Daereungwon tomb park, crosses to Gyeongju National Museum and Donggung and Wolji, and ends at the lit Woljeonggyo bridge. The seven stops add up to 5.1 km in a straight line, and one time decides the whole order: the museum stops admitting at 17:30.
- Five Places to Visit Around Hwangnidan-gil, Gyeongju: Daereungwon, Cheomseongdae, Donggung and Wolji, Woljeonggyo
Five sites a few minutes' walk from Hwangnidan-gil. All five stay open into the night, and only the two that sell tickets have a deadline.
Nearby Food
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Where these facts come from
- Gyeongju Culture and Tourism — Donggung and Wolji ·
- Gyeongju Culture & Tourism — historic-site admission table ·
- Korea Heritage Service — heritage record ·
- Gyeongju Culture and Tourism — the 「Bus 10 버스타GO」 route guide. It gives Bus 10's first departure at 06:00 and last at 21:40 from the express/intercity bus terminal, a headway of about 20 minutes, and 35–45 minutes from the terminal to Bulguksa, the turning point, when the bus does not stop in between. For each attraction it publishes the name of the stop to get off at, the stop's ID and the walk from it. Bus 11 runs the same route in the opposite direction, and Bus 10-1 turns back at Gyeongju World rather than reaching Bulguksa. A city bus fare is 1,300 won for an adult, 1,000 for a youth and 700 for a child, 50 won less with a transit card; one transfer is allowed within 30 minutes of alighting and only onto a different route. ·