Seoul City Hall

I think this might be the first time a city hall got its very own blog post. To be fair, there’s not one building to explore, but two. Like most things in Seoul, there is a blending of old and new and this municipal necessity is no exception.

The original stone and ivy building was built in 1925 and used as the city hall from 1945 until 2008 when the new building was built right next to it and opened in 2012.

Inside Seoul City Hall is the Green Wall which made it into the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest vertical garden in the world stretching from the ground floor all the way up to the 7th floor.

While the upper floors of Seoul City Hall is all modern glass and metal, it does not forget its roots. Descend down to the basement floor to find something rather unexpected. The Gungisi Relics exhibition area contains ruins and artifacts from the Joseon Dynasty that were preserved during the building’s excavation.

The old city hall building was re-purposed to become the Seoul Metropolitan Library and is now home to over 200,000 books. This is the library’s main reading area.

The upper floors of the library contain exhibits from Seoul’s history as well as the preserved rooms from when it was the old city hall.

The library also has a rooftop garden for a little escape from the busy streets and has views of Seoul City Hall and…

…the mountains and palaces in the distance.