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City Hall stands in the main downtown plaza and may be considered the city center. Near it are five of Seoul's major deluze hotels: the Westin Chosun, Dadisson Seoul Plaza, Lotte, President and Koreana. The Sejong Cultural Center, Toksugung Palace, and several foreign embassies are within walking distance. The downtown area is also a heaven for shoppers. There are numerous department stores, arcades, and boutiques, each offering a wide variety of the latest high fashion good. Toksugung Palace is just beside City Hall. This palace complex is dotted with commanding structures: Taehanmun, the main gate; Chunghwajon, the throne room or audience hall; and Sokchojon, the first Renaissance style building in Korea, which now houses the Royal Museum, and exhibition of items used bu the royal court. The palace is open to the public Year-round. A stroll up Sejongno Street offers a look at the old and new Seoul.  The lovely red brick Anglican Cathedral sits snugly behind Toksugung Palace. The cathedral, build in 1926, is nest to the British Embassy, built in 1890. In Chon-dong, several architectural structures, such as the Methodist Church and Ewha Girl's High School, recall the Korea of the late 19th century. The statue of Admiral Yi Sun-shin, Korea's great naval hero, marks the site of the Kwanghwamun Intersection, and a convenient pedestrian tunnel connects the Sejong Cultural Center and the Kyobo Building, 2 distinctive structural landmarks that face each other across the main Sejongno Street. The Sejong Cultural Center is one of Korea's most well-equipped centers for major international and national cultural events. It has both large and small auditoriums for concerts, plays and conferences. The Kyobo Building is the home of Seoul's largest bookstores. Located in the basement, Kyobo Bookstore offers a larfe selection of foreign books and magazines and is equipped with a stationery department, several restaurants and a cafeteria. Kwanghwamun Gate, at the end of Sejongno Street, was the original entrance to Kyongbokkung Palace. The 2 entrances to the Kyongbokkung Palace are now located along the east and west walls. Kyongbokkung Palace a 40 acre complex, was biold in 1394, the 3rd year of the Chosun Dynasty. Kunjongjon, the largest and most impressive building in the palace, served as the throne room and audience hall. Kyonghoeru, a spacious two-story pavilion, overlooks a picturesque man-made pond just northwest of the throne hall. It served as a feasting hall for gatherings of royal ministers and diplomats. Hyangwonjong, a secluded pavilion nestled in the middle of a lotus pond at the norghern end of the palace complex, is where the royal families could enjoy special private occasions. |