cinalia

Seoul · Yongsan

National Museum of Korea

Free, enormous, and holding the gold crowns of the Silla kingdom

Museum Seoul, Yongsan€€€

The pensive bodhisattva in a dark room designed around one sculpture

Opened on this site in 2005, the sixth largest museum in the world by floor area, with a permanent collection that is free to everybody. Three floors cover Korean history from prehistory through the Three Kingdoms to the Joseon dynasty, with the Silla gold crowns, celadon ceramics and a ten-storey stone pagoda standing inside the entrance hall.

The single most memorable object is a gilt-bronze pensive bodhisattva from the seventh century, shown alone in a dark curved room with nothing else in it.

The detail

Good to know

Opened
2005 on this site
Admission
Free, permanent collection
Size
Sixth largest museum in the world
Late
Wednesday and Saturday until 21:00