Main Hall of Jongmyo Shrine

Basic information

Designation

National Treasure No.227

Category

Architecture

Era

조선 광해군

Designated year

1985

Location

종로구, 서울특별시— 서울 종로구 종로 157, 종묘 (훈정동)

Coordinates

37.574782, 126.993857

Jongmyo is the place to retain the successive kings' tablet. Jeongjeon is the central building of Jongmyo. It is now preserves only the kins with meritorious deeds in the Joseon Dynasty. It is the place where memorial services were performed for those deceased kings. Jongmyo, along with the rituals where services for the Gods of Earth and Crops were performed, was considered as the most important ritual, and the most significant for the architecture in Korea. There were a total of 19 rooms and each room was used for the memorial tablet of King Taejo, his queen, followed by the room for King Taejong and his queen. The rooms following were in the order that ended with King Sunjong, the last king of Joseon, and his queen. Although the rooms were extremely simple structures without ornamentation, the Jeongjeon which was comprised of 19 identical rooms side by side, was the longest single building in Korea. Jongmyo, the place where memorial services were performed for the kings, represented the splendid art of the Joseon Dynasty and could be seen as the highest formality and magnificent skill of the architecture that created the arts of space in the Joseon Dynasty.

Location