Seonyudo Park

This guide to Seonyudo Park in Seoul follows the island from a scholars' hillside retreat, through Japanese colonial-era quarrying that erased the hill entirely, to the water purification plant built here in 1978 to serve nearby factories. You'll hear how the plant ran for over two decades before closing in 2000, and how the 2002 redesign chose to keep its concrete tanks and pillars rather than tear them down. Look for the sunken pools that once held sedimentation tanks, now home to an aquatic garden.