A royal beginning

My folded map has a crease right through Seoul. Let's begin this page with something larger: a palace gate. Gyeongbokgung became the main royal palace of Joseon in 1395. Destruction, rebuilding and restoration changed it over the centuries; a major restoration programme began in the 1990s. The buildings belong to more than one chapter.

When you have stopped somewhere clear of the entrance, notice how one roof sits behind another. You can follow a shape without memorising every royal name. I would sketch a single upturned roof corner in my notebook, leaving the rest of the page open.

Our first souvenir is a beginning. There is room to learn the city slowly, one familiar shape at a time.