Seoul Grand Park is a park complex to the south of

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

, South Korea, in the city of

Gwacheon Gwacheon () is a Administrative divisions of South Korea, city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. It lies close to Seoul in the heart of the Seoul National Capital Area, and also lies just east of Anyang, Gyeonggi, Anyang. Seoul Subway Line 4 passe ...

(과천시). Facilities at Seoul Grand Park include hills and hiking trails, Seoul Grand Park Zoo, Children's Zoo, a rose garden,

Seoul Land Seoul Land is an amusement park opened in 1987, in Gwacheon, a city in Gyeonggi-do province, South Korea. It is located in the Seoul Grand Park complex. It opened just before the 1988 Summer Olympics. It has about 40 rides, including roller coa ...

amusement park, and the Seoul Museum of Modern Art. The attractions all have separate admission fees. Line 4 of the

Seoul Metropolitan Subway The Seoul Metropolitan Subway is a metropolitan railway system consisting of 23 rapid transit, light metro, commuter rail and people mover lines located in northwest South Korea. The system serves most of the Seoul Metropolitan Area including ...

stops at Seoul Grand Park Station. A shuttle bus from the station visits the art museum and upper park entrance. The Seoul Zoo has more than 3,000 animals from 330 species.

Facilities

Seoul Grand Park Zoo

Seoul Grand Park Zoo, first zoo in the Korean peninsula, was created in 1909 by the Japanese in the former royal palace of Changgyeongung, which was under the changed name of Changgyeongweon. The zoo opened in November 1909 with

Siberian tiger The Siberian tiger or Amur tiger is a population of the tiger subspecies ''Panthera tigris tigris'' native to the Russian Far East, Northeast China and possibly North Korea. It once ranged throughout the Korean Peninsula, but currently inhabit ...

kangaroo Kangaroos are four marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern gre ...

ostrich Ostriches are large flightless birds of the genus ''Struthio'' in the order Struthioniformes, part of the infra-class Palaeognathae, a diverse group of flightless birds also known as ratites that includes the emus, rheas, and kiwis. There are ...

es,

camel A camel (from: la, camelus and grc-gre, κάμηλος (''kamēlos'') from Hebrew or Phoenician: גָמָל ''gāmāl''.) is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. C ...

orangutan Orangutans are great apes native to the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia. They are now found only in parts of Borneo and Sumatra, but during the Pleistocene they ranged throughout Southeast Asia and South China. Classified in the genus ...

s, and other animals. Towards the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

the Japanese needed both manpower and steel for weapons, and gave orders to kill the animals in the zoo, poisoning 150 animals. Animals that survived this had to also survive the end of the war, when all the remaining zookeepers fled the zoo. The zoo was maintained by the South Korean government at Changgyeongweon until 1984 when it was relocated to its current site in Makgyedong, Gwacheon.

Seoul Land

is an amusement park in the Seoul Grand park complex. It opened in 1987, just before the 1988 Summer Olympics. It has about 40 rides and has approximately 3-3.5 million visitors per year.

National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art

The National Museum of Contemporary Art (MMCA), also known as Gwacheon Contemporary Art Museum, is located in Gwacheon, South Korea. The museum was initially established in

Gyeongbokgung Gyeongbokgung (), also known as Gyeongbokgung Palace or Gyeongbok Palace, was the main royal palace of the Joseon dynasty. Built in 1395, it is located in northern Seoul, South Korea. The largest of the '' Five Grand Palaces'' built by the Joseo ...

on October 20, 1969, but was moved to Deoksugung in 1973. The Gwacheon venue opened in 1986. In recent years, MMCA's has undergone changes to become more family-friendly.

Gallery

Image:SeoulGrandParkChildrenZooEntrance.jpg, The Entrance to the Children's Zoo Image:SeoulGrandParkRoseGardenPainter.jpg, A common scene at the Rose Garden, when the roses are in bloom Image:SeoulGrandParkZooCapybara.jpg, A

capybara The capybaraAlso called capivara (in Brazil), capiguara (in Bolivia), chigüire, chigüiro, or fercho (in Colombia and Venezuela), carpincho (in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay) and ronsoco (in Peru). or greater capybara (''Hydrochoerus hydro ...

at the zoo at Seoul Grand Park Image:2014년 8월 31일 경기도 과천시 서울대공원 저수지.jpg, lake of Seoul Grand Park Image:Seoul grandpark sangh.jpg, autumn of Seoul Grand Park

Notes

External links

*
Seoul Grand Park - Seoul City Official TourismWebsite of the Korean Association of Zoos & Aquaria
{{authority control Parks in Gyeonggi Province Zoos in South Korea Botanical gardens in South Korea