Gungnamji Pond

The Samguk Sagi records that in 634 King Mu of Baekje had a pond dug south of the palace, water led in from a distance, willows planted on the banks and an island raised in the middle - the earliest description of a designed garden pond in Korean records, and one that influenced later Korean and Japanese garden making. The site at Buyeo was excavated in the twentieth century and what stands now is a reconstruction on the archaeological ground: a broad pond, an island with the Poryongjeong pavilion, and a long wooden bridge out to it. Around the water are extensive lotus beds, dozens of varieties, which is what fills the place in July when the flowers open and the town runs a lotus festival. Outside that month it is a quiet park used by residents, pleasant at dawn and lit at night. It is free, flat, and half an hour's walk from the fortress hill.

What you actually see

• The island pavilion - Poryongjeong across the wooden bridge.
• The lotus beds - many varieties, at their peak in July.
• The reconstructed pond - built on the excavated Baekje ground.
• The evening lighting - the bridge and pavilion after dark.

When to go

July for the lotus and the festival, which is the reason the place is known. Dawn and evening are the good hours; midday in July is hot and crowded.

Honest expectations

The structures are modern reconstruction, not surviving Baekje work - the ground is original, the buildings are not. Outside the lotus season it is an ordinary town park.

Nearby

Busosanseong and Nakhwaam are on the hill; the Buyeo National Museum is close.