Seonyudo: A Water Plant Turned Garden
Riverside lawns, an island of old filter tanks and a bridge to Hapjeong
≈3.5 km · ≈50 min walking · Easy · Yeongdeungpo-gu · Start: Dangsan station · End: Hapjeong station
Walk down from Dangsan to the riverbank, cross the arched footbridge to Seonyudo, an island water-treatment plant reborn as a garden of concrete ruins, then cross Yanghwa Bridge on foot to the clifftop shrine at Jeoldusan.
Stops
- Yanghwa Hangang Park (한강시민공원 양화지구(양화한강공원))
A quiet stretch of the south bank with views up to the island and the arched Seonyu Bridge, the footbridge you take next. - Seonyudo Park (선유도공원)
A water-treatment plant (1978–2000) turned into a park in 2002, designed by landscape architect Jung Young-sun with architect Cho Sung-ryong. The old settling tanks and concrete columns were kept and planted as water gardens, a landmark of reuse design in Korea. - Jeoldusan Martyrs' Shrine (절두산순교성지)
A clifftop chapel and museum where Korean Catholics were executed in 1866. The 1967 church and museum by Lee Hee-tae sit on the rock above the river.
Best time: A dry afternoon from April to November. The water gardens are greenest in summer.
Tips
- Yanghwa Bridge has a footpath on both sides; take the east side for the view of the shrine.
- Seonyudo Park closes at midnight and has no shops inside; bring water.
Access
Seonyudo is reached over the long Seonyugyo footbridge, which rises in an arch. Jeoldusan Martyrs' Shrine sits on a cliff with stairs.