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One of the nicest places to stroll around in Seoul is the Changgyeonggung Palace, one of Korea’s five major palaces. The glasshouse of the Changgyeonggung Botanical Garden was built in 1907 as Korea’s first wood, iron and glass glasshouse. The building was designed by Hayato Fukuba, who was in charge of the Shinjuku Imperial Garden in Tokyo, and constructed by a French company. The glasshouse still contains rare flora, including tropical plants.
The glasshouse was a symbol of the Victorian Age, the Industrial Revolution and the technological, economic and cultural might of the British Empire. The father of the glasshouse was Joseph Paxton, the 19th century gardener and architect whose masterpiece was the Crystal Palace of the Great Exhibition of 1851.
