Gochang, Hwasun, and Ganghwa Dolmen
A dolmen is a kind of tomb, or prehistoric cemetery. They can be found all over the world, but Korea is said to have 50% of the world's total on its grounds. The numerous ones included here were constructed around the 1st millennium BC.
The dolmen in Kanghwa (Ganghwa in new spelling) is a northern-type, table-shaped dolmen where ancestral rites were held. It is the biggest stone of this kind in South-Korea, measuring 2.6 x 7.1 x 5.5 meters.
Tombs .
Visit September 2001
Of these Korean dolmen sites, I only visited the big one at Ganghwa Island (near Seoul). No entrance fee there, though the dolmen is placed in a little park and there is the ubiquitous soft drink vending machine.
To simply get there, and to enjoy the Ganghwa landscape was the most interesting part of my visit. The dolmen itself is "just" 3 stones put on top of each other. I have seen those before in Holland.
But I have good memories of visiting this site, because it was the 7th and last worldheritage I saw on my trip to Korea. As this one is quite out of the way and was not included in my original travel plans, I am glad that I was able to visit it after all.
Reviews
Jacob Choi (United States of America):
First of all the Ganghwa dolmen are spread all across on a mountain park and you have to go through a steep climb to get there and to reach the park you need to go through a small village through the island but it was an incredible world heritage site. |
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