Korea's hidden gem - Gwangmyeong Cave.
Olga
2 days ago
Not far from Seoul there is a wonderful historical and natural attraction - Gwangmyeong Cave. It is the largest themed cave park with varied cultural and artistic things, created in a gold mine where gold, silver, and bronze were mined.
Visitors can experience wine at Wine Cave, as well as Cave Aqua World, Gold Falls, Gold Road, Gold Palace, Horror Experience, Cave Basement World, Underground Lake, the largest dragon sculpture in the nation, LED lights, and other facilities adding more fun to the visit. In addition, Black Light Performance will be held every weekend. The cave features many healing spots to heal one’s mind while taking a walk around the venue.
To reach the cave, you have to climb up the mountain. The road is very picturesque, especially in the fall and spring.
Once through the gate, you immediately find yourself in a long cave shaft. Water runs and gurgles along the walls, and magnificent multicolored flower-shaped lighting lines the walls. A stunning and captivating sight!
As you enter Gwangmyeong Cave, you'll encounter a hole. This is a plaza called a wormhole. A wormhole is a passageway connecting black holes and white holes in space, a hole in the walls of time and space. Various light installations transform this place into a magical world.
There is a Space of Light nearby. This is an art project space with the theme of light, a beautiful existence in the dark. It exhibits various works of light and life forms of light using LED lighting and new media techniques.
Also you can enjoy unique experience to see the Cave Aqua World - a miracle created by the underground rock water of the cave. It is the first cave aqua world in Korea, and you can meet a variety of fish from all over the world in addition to native fish using first-class rock water.
One of the most impressive places in the cave is undoubtedly the Golden Road and Golden Plaque Wall of Hope.
The Golden Road, which contains the history of Gwangmyeong Cave, where gold, silver, and copper were mined, is the path of the 'Restoration Code' that gives health and happiness with negative ions. The Wall of Wish, which hangs a golden plaque with wishes written on it as a way to experience the history of Gwangmyeong Cave, which was a golden mine, emits golden light and creates a spectacular scene. The purchased gold plaque is stored on the Golden Road of Gwangmyeong Cave for one year to pray for the health and happiness of visitors.
The Supernova of Hope was made of 4,219 golden plaques that wrote down the wishes of visitors to Gwangmyeong Cave during 2015.
The mysterious and beautiful starlight receives the energy of praying for hope and explodes like a supernova and falls around us, and the starlight conveys stronger energy so that the wishes of another year can be fulfilled.
Another beautiful area - Golden Palace. This is an experience zone where you can touch six giant golden pillars and the gold ingots held by the cave fairy Aisha. It is said that if you recite Aisha's spell (Shhh shhh hoi hoi Aisha~~~!), good luck will come.
The Golden Palace's cave fairy, Aisha, holds a treasure chest filled with gold created by pounding stones. You can experience tossing coins into the treasure chest, and the accumulated coins will be donated to local children and youth as scholarships of hope.
And the most breathtaking part of the cave tour is Cave Underground World. Descending to the first basement level, you can experience the diverse and mysterious underground world of the cave.
This path descends from the horizontal level to the first underground level. It was the passageway miners used to climb up and down to mine ore, and also to transport the mined ore. With a 32° slope, Gwangmyeong Cave has two shafts. Descending this path, you can experience the mysterious space of the first underground level, once submerged in groundwater.
The cave underground lake, located on the second level underground, is filled with underground bedrock, reminiscent of a mysterious lake.
And an unexpected gift for fans of The Lord of the Rings and fantasy in general—a huge sculpture of the mystical dragon "Lord of the Cave", created by New Zealand's Weta Workshop, the creators of the "Lord of the Rings" films. Measuring 41 meters long and weighing 800 kg, the Lord of the Cave is also featured in the Fantasy Weta Gallery, where it is housed. Visitors can also admire Gollum, Gandalf's staff, and the winning design from the 2016 Gwangmyeong Cave International Fantasy Concept Design Competition.They look absolutely stunning against the cave walls!
A very interesting place is the Museum of Modern History - a place of historical experience and education that provides a glimpse into the 105-year history of Gwangmyeong Cave, from the Japanese colonial period through the industrialization period to the present.
This exhibition hall showcases the history of conscription and exploitation during the Japanese colonial period and reexamines the historical value of Gwangmyeong Cave, which played a vital role in the resource supply process during the post-liberation industrialization process. The exhibition recreates the miners' labor sites, a historical site of conscription and exploitation during the Japanese colonial period, and showcases them using cutting-edge production techniques, including graphics, video, and music. It's a wonderful memorial to the miners whose lives were connected to the cave.
And finally, a beautiful road with colorful lighting and plants leads to a 194-meter-long wine cave. Over 170 varieties of domestic wine from around the country are available for sale. Gwangmyeong Wine Cave is the only place in South Korea where all domestic wines are sold in one place. Gwangmyeong Wine Cave is filled with fascinating and intriguing stories about wine, including its history, production sites, glasses and festivals, the winemaking process, and labels. Visitors can also experience and purchase high-quality domestic wines made with specialty fruits from around the country.
It was a unique and fascinating journey. I highly recommend the Gwangmyeong Cave for a great time alone, with friends, or with family. You'll definitely be captivated by the incredible beauty of the underground world.
