Mt. Daemosan

September 6, 2012 by 3 Comments

In late July, a friend and I went to Mt. Daemosan (293), a prominent hill in Gangnam, to take a couple of evening shots.

In the old days, Mt. Daemosan was called Mt. Halmisan (“Grandmother Mountain”) as it was said to resemble an old grandmother. The name was changed to Daemosan on royal order after the tomb of King Taejong of Goryeo was placed there. There are a number of theories behind the name—one posits that the mountain resembles a sitting Buddhist nun, while another says it looks like a woman’s breasts.

I’m just saying.

Anyway, on very clear day, the peak of Mt. Daemosan—actually, an observation platform just below the peak—offers gorgeous views of southern Seoul and the Hangang River. In summer, though, bring mosquito repellent—the swarms can get pretty thick up here.

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Sadly, we’d just missed the sunset, which we were told was quite nice this evening.

At 200mm, you can get some nice shots of Yeouido and the Hangang River, including the big World Cup Fountain near Seongsan Bridge. For those keeping score at home, the fountain shoots water up to 202m high.

When the weather is clear, you can see all the way out to Mt. Namsan (of course) and Bukhansan National Park.

And yes, this would be the Samsung Tower Palace Apartments, which is where Korea’s “1%” live. The tallest of the towers, Tower G, is 74 stories high and designed, naturally enough, by US-based Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. What’s interesting about Tower G—aside from it being the eighth-tallest all-residential building in the world—is that its design apparently served as a model for Dubai’s landmark Burj Khalifa, the world’s largest building. The Burj was also designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill and built by Samsung C&T.

More Info

The entrance to the park is a short walk from Exit 4 or 5 of Irwol Station, Line 3


View Daemosan in a larger map

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  • http://www.monster-island.net kushibo

    As usual, you knocked it out of the park with your twilight/night photos. I haven’t been to Taemosan in a long time, but I might try when I’m back in Seoul next time.

    Of note in your backdrop, along with Mt Namsan and Mt Puk’ansan, is the “mountain” (Mt Ansan?) to the visual left of Mt Namsan. It’s the large hill or small mountain behind Yonsei University, where Pong’won-sa Temple is located. It’s a neat little hike up to the top, starting at the rear of the temple, which affords nice views of downtown. Haven’t gone up there since grad school, but it was always a fun place to go have a beer and a view.