Kaesong is a modern town with broad avenues. However there also is an old centre between the main road and the river, with many traditional buildings. Kaesong is a historical town. Kaesong, with a history of more than 1,000 years, was founded as the capital of Koryo. Since ancient times, Kaesong has enjoyed a worldwide reputation as a center of Koryo Insam cultivation. The city boasts an abundance of historical remains, museums, palaces, important tombs, arts and craftworks.

Kaesong town is dominated by the 104 m. high Janam Mountain. There is a statue of the Great Leader, Comrade Kim Il Sung, erected in 1968. From the top you will have a nice view on the city and on Songak Mountain northwest of the city. Around this hill the most important historical buildings of Kaesong are located.

Sungyang Hall This place dates from the 14^th century and used to be the house of the well-known official and Confucian scholar Jong Mong Ju. In 1573 the house was transformed into an academic institution, with buildings for education in the front and sacrificial rites in the rear. A high stonewall encloses it. At the front there are three gates. The Great Hall is situated on a platform. Behind the great Hall there are stairs leading to the Ancestor Shire.

Sonjuk Bridge is located about 1 km east of Nam Gate. The small stone bridge dates from 1216. It is only 7 meters long and 2.5 meters wide. On this bridge Ri Song Gye, the first king of the Ri Dynasty, in 1392 had his opponent Jong Mong Ju executed. This well-known scholar advocated loyalty to the Koryo Dynasty against the usurpers. Later a bamboo grew up besides the bridge and from that the bridge got his name. In 1780 the bridge was closed for all traffic and since then it is a monument.

Opposite Sonjuk Bridge you will find Pyonchung Pavilion. Inside there are two huge stelea (stone tablets) on the backs of stone turtles. One stele was erected in 1740 by king Yongjo, the other in 1872 by king Kojong. Both commemorate the conviction and execution of Jong Mong Ju and confirm his loyalty to the ruling dynasty, thereby paradoxically confirming the decaying of the Ri Dynasty.

Nam Gate The South Gate was built between 1391 and 1393, at the same time as the inner citadel of the walled city. The citadel used to have seven gates, but only Nam Gate is left. During the Korea War it was severely damaged and rebuilt in 1954.

Students and Childrens’ Palace Just near the South Gate you can find this complex which opened in 1961. All kinds of extra-curricular activities, in the fields of sports and arts, take place here.

Manwoldae Palace Southeast of Songak Mountain is Manwoldae, the place where the royal palace of Koryo was located. Only ruins of the fundaments of the big palace still exist. It was built in 919. It was burnt in the invasion of the Red Kerchieved Rebel Army in 1361.

Historic landmarks include the tombs of several Korean kings, the old city walls, and the remains of a royal palace from the Koryo period.

Centuries of neglect and three major wars that left the city in rubble each time tarnished this picture a little, but there are a few relics of former times and a couple of good museums. The Songgyungwan Neo-Confucian College was built in 992 and then rebuilt after the Japanese invasion of 1592. It hosts the Koryo Museum, with pottery and other Buddhist relics, and Confucian ceremonies are re-enacted there sometimes.