One of Seoul’s City Gates

Dezső Bozóky hand-coloured glass diapositive. Photograph taken by Dezső Bozóky. Related item: A.4760.2.24.3. (photo). Built in 1396, the Eastern Gate (Heunginji-mun, “Gate of Rising Benevolence”) was given the look visible in the picture during an 1869 reconstruction. Visible through the opening of the gate is the outer wall; on the left, a tram car can be seen. Trams were put in service in Seoul in 1899, and they ran along the east-west main road, the Jongno, and along the way, passed under the Eastern Gate. The photo also bears evidence to how diverse Seoul’s population had become by the time of Bozóky’s visit: alongside the locals, men in Japanese and European clothes can also be seen around the gate.

place of production: Heunginjimun (흥인지문)