Namwon

Namwon is the hometown of important Korean classical literatures, such as Chunhyangjeon and Heungbujeon. Chunhyangjeon was written for Pansori at first but people also met the story as a novel. It is a representative love story of Korea written in the Joseon (1392 1910) period. Namwon is also a background of the story of Heungbujeon, one of the top Korean classical literatures.

Mt. Jirisan is the largest mountainous area in South Korea meeting Gurye in Jeollanam do Province to the west, Namwon city in Jeollabuk do Province to the north, Hamyang gun County in Gyeongsangnam do Province to the northeast, Hadong gun County in Gyeongsangnam do Province to the southeast. There is a peak called Samdo(three provinces) bong in the mountain where the boundaries of Jeollanm do, Jeollabuk do, and Gyeongsangnam do meet. There are 20 peaks over 1,000 meters above sea level and 15 hills, and there is the origin of three rivers.

Gwanghallu is the representative traditional garden built in the middle years of Joseon (1392 1910). Chunhyang first met her love, Lee Mong ryong, here. You can enjoy the beautiful view of nature.

 
Dear My Friends,
Namwon is famous for its magnificent mountain, Mt. Jirisan.
Mt. Jirisan which is designated as the first National Park and one of the top eight Korean places to travel and five great Korean mountains is giant and its scenery is nice.

The height of this mountain is 1915m and it has 85 summits and 10 steep peaks such as Rabbit Summit, Banya Summit, Nogodan, and the South Korea°Øs second highest mountain, Cheonwang. So this mountain can be the representative mountain in Korea. This is a picture of Bamsa gol which is famous in summer because of its coooolness.

It also has interesting allegory. About 1300 years ago, there was a temple near there. At that time, it was said that if a priest prayed on Sin sun rock on a special day, then he or she will go into the celestial world. And many priests of Buddha went there and didn’t come back, so most people believed that the people who disappeared became Taoist hermits. However, one priest thought it was strange, and said to the king that that it was strange. So the king gave him poisoned clothes. After he came back to the temple, he gave the clothes to another who was going to pray. After that day, the priest discovered that a monster serpent was dead with the prayer. Since this incident, people said this valley ‘Bamsa gol’ as in this valley, the serpent was dead.

This is the building called ‘Gwanghanru’. It is beautiful, isn’t it?
It is the representative garden of Korea along with Soswaewon in Damyang and Gyeonghweru in Seoul. The whole garden is called Gwanghanru won. You can enjoy the scenery, and feel the breath of the Sunbi, scholars of Joseon dynasty.

This is the picture of the Chunhyang Festival. This festival continues from May 1st to 5th each year. You can experience a variety of traditional events.

Regards, Tae yang

* More information: http://en.namwon.go.kr/en/