Insadong-gil Street
Pedestrian street of antique shops, art galleries and stationery stores in a historic Joseon-era quarter.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to Insadong-gil Street in Seoul opens with a nobleman selling his grandfather's jade vase to a stranger, one of many forced sales as Japan's occupation pushed old aristocratic families out of this once-restricted government quarter. It follows how those heirlooms flooded into secondhand shops, drawing dealers, then postwar artists and cafe owners, then a nickname, Mary's Alley, that stuck for decades. About forty percent of the country's antique shops and art galleries still cluster along this street today.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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