When you walk down from Hyehwa-dong Rotary to Hanseong Univ. Station following Changgyeonggung-ro, you will see the towering gate standing on the hill beside the road. It is the Hyehwamun Gate, one of the eight gates of Hanyangdoseong, the Seoul City Wall. Having been often referred to as the Dongsomun Gate, which means a small gate of the east, it welcomed visitors from the northeast during the Joseon Dynasty. Not only people from Gangwon-do and Hamgyeong-do Provinces, but also Jurchen envoys from far distance came and went through this gate. It also played a role of a north gate after the Sukjeongmun Gate was closed due to geomantic reasons.
Let us introduce you to several episodes that happened in the process of managing the Hyehwamun Gate more than 500 years ago. Through the accidents and incidents that occurred in the process of protecting and defending the gate of Hanyang, the capital of Joseon, you may imagine how it looked in those old days.