서울 산책기: 동대문을 한바퀴 돌아 석굴암을 재현한 보문사까지

창덕궁+창경궁+종묘의 우측에 자리한 동대문(흥인지문) 일대는 패션타운 관광특구로 지정되어 많은 외국인들이 찾는 곳이다. 국내외로 팔려 나가는 의류 도매시장과 더불어 30여개의 쇼핑몰이 자리하고 있다.

청계천길을 따라서는 여러 전문시장이 늘어서 있는데 광장시장(먹거리), 평화시장(의류), 방산시장(포장재), 중부시장(건어물) 등이 마주하고 있다. 뿐만 아니라 골목길을 들어서면 완구거리, 수족관거리, 인장거리, 애완동물거리 등등이 사람들의 시선을 잡아끈다.

행정구역상 종로구에 속하지만 흥인지문 바로 위쪽에 자리한 창신동은 동대문시장에 실과 옷감, 가죽류, 악세사리 등을 조달하는 지역이다. 안쪽길을 들어가면 미싱 돌아가는 소리와 함께 세탁소의 김이 뿜어져 나온다. 

 

 

보문사 석굴암

 

A Hidden Grotto in the Heart of Seoul
Who would imagine encountering the spirit of Gyeongju’s Seokguram right in the middle of Seoul?
East of Changduk-guung, Changgyoung-guung, and Jongmyo Shrine lies Heunginjimun—better known as Dongdaemun—a district officially christened a “Fashion Town Special Tourist Zone.” Beneath the neon lights and the tide of shoppers, clothing from here flows not only across Seoul but across the world.


map of Dongdaemun
Around Cheonggyecheon Stream stretch whole streets dedicated to a single craft: food at Gwangjang Market, fabrics at Pyeonghwa Market, packaging at Bangsan Market, dried fish at Jungbu Market. Step deeper into the alleys and you’ll stumble upon whole microcosms—toy streets, aquarium streets, seal-carving streets, even pet streets—each with its own rhythm.

 

 

https://omn.kr/27a7a

오히려 길치여서 쓸 수 있었던 서울 산책길 이야기

 

 

Above this frenzy, however, hides another world. Beyond the stone gates and uphill through Changsin-dong—where sewing machines hum and steam escapes from narrow laundries- a modest yet poignant place where Korea’s garment industry tells its story. From there, if you follow the fortress wall upward, you find yourself suddenly among blossoms and breezes in Naksan Park.

보문사

Bomuunsa
Naksan is no lofty peak—only 125 meters— but it holds the city like a secret. From its ridge, Seoul spreads beneath you in waves of rooftops and highways, while at night the fortress wall glows like a ribbon of lanterns. Two paths wind upward: one lined with magnolia and cherry blossoms in spring, the other dotted with tiny cafés, clinging to the slope like ornaments. Both merge at the summit, where the city loosens its grip and the sky feels closer.

Continue along the fortress trail and you pass through Samseon Park, where the old Office of the Three Military Commands—a building once commanding soldiers at the twilight of the Joseon dynasty— now stands quietly, uprooted from its original site and transplanted here by history’s rough hand.

Bomuunsa
But the journey’s quiet climax waits just ahead. Following the wall’s curve, you reach Bomunsa Temple—the only Buddhist convent in the world, a sanctuary tended solely by nuns. Its origins reach back to the twelfth century, but it was in the twentieth that it claimed its independence and built, stone by stone, a dream: a recreated Seokgullam Grotto and the soaring Nine-story Pagoda of Woljungsa.

Unlike in Gyeongju, where Seokgllam can only be viewed through glass, here in Bomunsa one may step inside, close enough to feel the cool breath of stone and the serene gaze of the Buddha.

 

https://omn.kr/1s50t

경주 석굴암을 서울 한복판에서 볼 수 있다고?

 

 

 

Seoul Walks: History and Moments Through the Lens

It is a strange wonder: to climb from the roar of Dongdaemun’s markets, past humming sewing rooms, through fortress walls and flowering ridges, only to find yourself before a grotto that belongs, by all rights, to a distant mountain in Gyeongju. But perhaps this is Seoul’s way-it folds centuries and landscapes into its restless heart, and if you follow the old walls long enough, you may stumble upon eternity.