Ihwa village is in Jongno-gu. It's on hill top along side of the old castle wall. There is a park at the end of the road. It was originally just an old village on the hill. Then some artists started to draw wall paintings using the old houses and alley. They even used a cracks on the wall as a source of art. If you go on the hill top, you can see the near city view. The old castle wall is lighten up at night so it's pretty to walk.
How to go
You can go to Ihwa village from Dongdaemun station or Hyehwa station. It's on hill side so you need to go up on the hill anyways. It's bit of walk and some parts are steep. I recommend to wear comfortable shoes.
I personally think going there from Dongdaemun station is better since there is a trail along side of the castle wall. In the night, the wall is lighten up and the trail is quite pretty.
Alley with Wall paintings
Originally Ihwa maeul was just an old village on hill. Because it's on hill side, it wasn't a popular place to live and alley and houses were not maintained well. Some artists started to draw wall paintings using the existing structures. They painted wall with bright new colors. Residents grew plants and flowers with small pods on alley and those daily life decoration and new paintings go well together.
There are street cats in villages. In Seoul, street cats are easily found in this kind of village then apartment complex. Some people don't like street cats but in this village, there is a place motivated by street cats. People drew cats on small wall tiles and it became a street design.
Thanks to wall paintings and small tiny objects on street, this area becomes popular. However there is a side effect. This area is still resident area. Some visitors make quite a noise even in night and throw trash away. Therefore the community is now considering to make tour time limit.
What to do in Iwha village
There are cafe and pubs on the hill. They are places in high place so it's bit of walking to go there but the view is good. Some of them have terrace facing to the Namsan area. You can gaze down the city's night view with small lights of village area. I enjoyed drinking beer with simple finger foods at the terrace.
I somehow always went there in the night or evening but it's good to go there during day too. People usually take photos at some photo spots, eat some food or drink coffee and take a walk in the park at the top of the hill. There is also a park area at the top of the hill.
One good thing of this village is that the area is located in the center of Seoul. You can easily reach out to other places to visit in Seoul. There is an antique market, toy wholesale market, DDP near by.
This village is a kind of typical hill side old village in Seoul. Now many of them were redeveloped. Iwha village still has the old style like 1970's of Seoul. Because of the old style of houses, some Koreans rent 1970~1980's style of clothes (like school uniforms in my parents' generation) and visit the village. This whole area is quite good to enjoy retro style day.
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