Unbonggwan

About this place

This is a gaeksa (official guest house) built in 1428 (the 10th year of King Sejong of Joseon) by county magistrate Ha Dam, a place where officials dispatched from the central government or foreign envoys could stay. In the main hall (jeongcheong), the king's spirit tablet (jeonpae) was enshrined and the vice-magistrate performed hyanggwol-mangbae (paying homage toward the distant royal palace); it was the most authoritative building in Cheongsong. During the Japanese colonial period, its use was forcibly changed by the Japanese, and after the west wing (seoiksa) and the main hall were demolished, it lost its original form for a long time, until it gained the chance to recover its form through the Confucian cultural zone development project begun in 2000. Thus this gaeksa was restored in 2011 as a building of six kan at the front and three kan at the side, with the central hall (jungdang) in the middle and the two wings (yangiksa) placed to the left and right. (Source: Cheongsong-gun Culture and Tourism website)