|
|
|
Olympic Park
The History of the Olympics and the Cultural Inheritance
(A New Cultural Experience at a Sports Stadium)
f there is only one large open park where you can see a worldwide sculptures exhibition and Korea's cultural inheritance exhibition, it would be the Olympic Park. Located in Bang-i-dong, Songpa-gu, the Olympic Park was built to house the 24th Olympic games, which were held in Seoul in 1988. Its grounds contain numerous sporting facilities; 6 stadiums designed for cycling, weight lifting, fencing, gymnastics and swimming. There are also the remains of the Paekche Dynasty (4th Century) Mongchon Fortress, which are preserved as a Museum.
With the riverbank nearby, which is an ideal jogging course and the well cared for environment, the Olympic Park is a popular place. Within the park, there are also numerous sculptures, which offer a serene sight against the background of the sporting facilities. There are about 200 sculptures there and it is considered as one of the best five sculpture sites worldwide. 155 artists from 66 different countries contributed to it by donating some of their work. Some 36 of the sculptures were actually created within the two International outdoor Sculpture Symposiums.
The park is a great site for holding concerts and cultural events.
John Denver, the Rocky Mountain singer who died in a plane crash in 1997 held a concert at the Olympic Parks outdoor stage. Eric Clapton performed in 1997 and Metalica - an American heavy-metal group - performed in 1998.
The Mongchon Fortress located in the inner part of the park is a castle built in the 3rd Century and a valuable cultural historic site. The walls are made of mud and the wall from the north side to the south side is 750m wide, and 500m wide from west to east. The castle was built to prevent enemy invasions and is encircled by a ditch. There aren’t many ruins of this importance in Korea, which makes it even more valuable.
In addition to all this, the park houses facilities where it is possible to practice inline-skating, skate boarding, BMX, etc.
Opening hours: Weekdays sunrise till sunset, open at night until 22:00 at weekends and holidays.
Admission fee: Free
Tel: 410-1360
How to get there: Take line 5 and get off at Olympic park station, exit 3, There is a 5 minutes walk to get there.
(Sourced from WHAT'S ON SEOUL)
|
|
|
