Where to Stay in Gimpo-si, Gyeonggi-do

What is Gimpo-si known for?

The Ara Waterway in Gyeongin completed a ring around this ground, so Gimpo is treated as an island, even though the eastern part along with Gochon-eup belongs to Incheon and the northern end of Yangchon-eup runs out as a peninsula near Seoul. Jangneung is the set piece. The royal tomb anchors a long register of memorial and religious sites that takes in Suansa Temple, Daepo Seowon, the Gimpo Catholic Church and the stone Maitreya at Gimpo Yonghwasa Temple stone Maitreya Buddha.

What are the main landmarks in Gimpo-si?

The list runs long for a city this size. Jangneung takes the top of it, and below the royal tomb sit clan burial grounds at Cheongsong Sim Clan Burial Ground, at Yang Seong-ji's tomb and spirit-path stele and at Mungyeonggong Min Gi's tomb, which together record the families who held this ground. Faith is well represented.

Suansa Temple and the stone Maitreya at Gimpo Yonghwasa Temple stone Maitreya Buddha stand for the older tradition, the Gimpo Catholic Church for a later one, and the beacon mound Gimpo Gunha-ri Bongsudae for the older business of watching the river. Small Museum Bogugot keeps the indoor version.

What is the history of Gimpo-si?

Signal fires came first. Gimpo Gunha-ri Bongsudae survives as a beacon mound from the system that once passed warnings overland, set above the lower Han River where the approach could be watched. Two counties met on this ground.

The merit steles collected as Gimpo Hyeollyeong Gunsu Seonjeongbi and Tongjin Hyeongam Busa Seonjeongbi honour the magistrates of Gimpo and of Tongjin, and between them they are the plainest evidence the city keeps of how it was governed before any modern boundary was drawn. Clans left most of the rest. Cheongsong Sim Clan Burial Ground holds a Cheongsong Sim burial ground, the Namwon Yun clan Yeongsajeong tomb and the Namwon Yun clan Oryonggol site record the Namwon Yun, and Jeollyujeong Yeoheung Min clan Loyalty Site marks the Yeoheung Min at Jeollyujeong.

Jangneung outranks them all. The royal tomb sits in the same landscape of graves and shrines that produced Yang Seong-ji's tomb and spirit-path stele, Sim Eung Shrine and the stupa and stele of the stupa and stele of Munsusa Great Master Pungdam, while Daepo Seowon and Daeseongwon stand for the schooling and charitable side of the same order. Then the water changed.

Completion of the Ara Waterway in Gyeongin closed a ring around the ground, and a place that had been ordinary mainland began to be described as an island.

Where is Gimpo-si?

The Han River makes the edge. Gimpo occupies the lower reach and shares the estuary with Incheon, while Seoul, Paju and Goyang complete the land side of a municipality covering some 276 square kilometres. North Korea lies across the river.

Within the boundary, the eastern part along with Gochon-eup belongs to Incheon and Yangchon-eup pushes north as a peninsula, with the Ara Waterway in Gyeongin closing the ring that makes the whole of it read as an island.

What is the climate of Gimpo-si?

The estuary governs the air. Open water on the lower Han River carries wind across low ground, and the exposed sites, Gimpo Gunha-ri Bongsudae on its mound, Jangneung in its clearing, take it well before the sheltered streets do. Timing decides the outdoor half.

Days that suit a slow circuit of Daepo Seowon and Suansa Temple are rarely the days the wind is up off the estuary, and Small Museum Bogugot exists for the ones that are.

How do you get to Gimpo-si?

Approaches come over the boundary rather than the water. Gimpo meets Incheon at Gochon-eup, and Seoul, Paju and Goyang all border it as well, so nearly every arrival is a crossing from a neighbour rather than a journey that began with this city in mind. The Ara Waterway complicates the map.

Cutting the ring left the ground reading as an island, and reaching Yangchon-eup, Jangneung or Gimpo Solteo Football Field from one edge still means crossing a fair share of 276 square kilometres.