One hundred year journey through modern history | Travel Course | K-Travel Mate

Located within Christ Nursing University, Owen Memorial Hall was built in 1914 with funds of 4,200 dollars sent by American relatives to commemorate Missionary Owen, who came to Jeonnam as the first missionary with Pastor Bae Yuji and was martyred in Gwangju. The Western-style house has a total floor area of 434 square meters (including annex buildings). Judging by its layout, it is presumed to have been used as a chapel and assembly hall, but it is now used as an auditorium for Christ Nursing University. Owen was one of the foreigners living in Yangnim-dong's Western village in Gwangju in the 1900s and, along with his nurse wife, devoted himself to missionary and medical service activities until he died from overwork in 1909. Before his death, Owen planned to build a memorial hall for his grandfather because he prioritized missionary work over building a hospital commemorating his grandfather; the memorial hall bears his grandfather’s name for this reason. The two-story gray brick building has a square floor plan with a pulpit located diagonally at the corner, forming a symmetrical layout. The main entrances are on the north and west sides, shaped identically, with small secondary doors at the corners on the east and south sides. The first floor’s floor slopes toward the pulpit at about a 0.9/10 gradient, and the second floor balcony also slopes toward the pulpit at about a 1.2/10 grade. The walls use gray bricks (225mm length, 110mm width, 55mm thickness) laid in a Dutch bond pattern, with a thickness of 49cm built as cavity walls. The portion of the wall facing the ground is constructed of granite masonry. A brick belt course runs between the first and second floors, with attached columns of 2B thickness installed. All openings, doors, and windows use the same form of jack arches, with window sills made of granite. The front small clerestory window is supported by bricks laid as corbels. The entrances on both sides have semicircular arches using arch bricks, with granite keystones; the porch ceiling is finished with wooden boards. Notably, large circular cast iron pipes support the stone arch bases on the pillars. The roof structure is a Mansard truss supported by two internal columns; except for the chimney area, the roof is covered with sheet metal plates. The interior floorboards slope toward the pulpit, and the walls are finished with plaster. ◎ Travel information for experiencing the charm of Hallyu - This is the place where So-yul and Yeonhui went to see a performance by the famous singer Inanyo featured in the movie . In reality, the hall hosted various local cultural events such as Christian gatherings, lectures, concerts, and graduation ceremonies, and currently is used for religious and cultural events.

Ijangu House is a modern hanok consisting of an inner quarters, sarangchae, haengnangchae, storage building, and gatehouse on a land of about 500 pyeong. It is a high-class gabled tile-roof house built by Jeong Byeong-ho, son of Jeong Nak-kyo, a wealthy figure in the Gwangju area, who constructed the inner quarters in 1899 and the gatehouse in 1935. Dr. Donggang I Jang-woo, founder of Dongshin University and Dongshin Middle and High Schools, purchased it in 1959 and completed the sarangchae, haengnangchae, and storage building, establishing the current form. The inner quarters' ridge beam records ‘Gwangmu Year 3, Eulhae, February 10th, chuksi (光武三年乙亥二月十日丑時),’ indicating construction in 1899 during modernization. The inner quarters measure 120.12㎡ (about 36 pyeong) with a unique structure including a porch, small room, large hall, main room, kitchen, and a small room bent in a 'ㄱ' shape. Unlike southern houses with a 'ㅡ' layout, this 'ㄱ' shape reflects modern hanok traits facilitating women's activities and family space, leading to its designation as Gwangju Folk Cultural Property in 1989. The storage building was once destroyed by fire and restored in 2009. The yard originally had a Japanese-style garden, which was redesigned as a Korean-style garden for the 2009 Gwangju Design Biennale special exhibition. Ijangu House is a well-preserved valuable cultural heritage showing early modern traditional upper-class housing. ◎ Travel information to experience the charm of the Korean Wave - This was featured in the film , appearing as the hometown of Hyeonjun (played by Song Sae-byeok), a native of Jeolla Province. The preserved hanok and Korean-style garden harmonize to showcase the beauty of modern housing.

The Robert M. Willson Missionary Residence is said to have been built in the 1920s by American missionary Robert M. Willson, who served as the director of Jejungwon (now Gidok Hospital) and engaged in medical missionary work starting in 1908. It is the oldest Western-style house still standing in Gwangju. The interior has been renovated for use as the office of the Presbyterian Church of Korea and serves as a valuable resource for understanding the flow of modern Korean architecture. The building's floor plan is square; the first floor has a living room, family room, multipurpose room, kitchen, and bathroom, while the second floor contains bedrooms. The basement includes a storage room and boiler room. Its eastward orientation reflects traditional Korean directional beliefs. The facade measures 10.6m, with walls built in the Dutch style from 55mm-thick gray bricks. The interior is finished with plaster, and the gable is capped with stacked granite. All openings have semi-circular arches. The windows have ten-pane external sashes and double-hung sashes inside. To distinguish the first and second floors, brick cornices add variation to the exterior walls. ◎ Travel information to enjoy the charm of Korean Wave - This site was a space where Woo-jin (played by Lee Jong-suk) and Shim-deok (played by Shin Hye-sun) and their group rehearsed plays in the drama . The Western-style building creates an exotic atmosphere in harmony with the surrounding forest.

If Seoul has Myeongdong, then Gwangju has Chungjang-ro. Although the city center has expanded with many lively new streets attracting crowds, the fact that Chungjang-ro remains the heart of Gwangju will not change. During the walled city era, Chungjang-ro was Gwangju’s main north-south avenue connecting the south and north gates and was called the downtown because it was inside the walls. The commercial district on Chungjang-ro began when a Japanese person opened a daily sundry store named ‘Yeomok’ across from the current Industrial Bank in 1911, shortly after the Japanese occupation began. Subsequently, Japanese shops clustered around Chungjang-ro 1-ga, and Japanese control of the commercial area was due to the Japanese Governor-General building on the old provincial office site. The name ‘Chungjang-ro’ comes from the posthumous title of Kim Deok-ryeong, a righteous army commander during the Imjin War. The first streetlights here were kerosene lamps. Early on, Western clothing, tailoring, restaurants, and service industries concentrated here, attracting many young people. Chungjang-ro, bustling with youth leading contemporary trends, naturally earned the nickname ‘Street of Fashion and Youth.’ A must-mention when talking about Chungjang-ro is ‘Udabang’ — a term likening the post office, the youth meeting place during its peak in the ’70s and ’80s, to the tea houses popular then. Completed in 1963, the post office was a rare large building with heating and cooling, serving as an invaluable meeting place for poor lovers and students. During the 1980 Gwangju Democratization Movement, it was a gathering spot, information exchange, and refuge for protesters, making ‘Udabang’ a historic place still used for citizen demonstrations and events. Since 2004, every October the nostalgic Chungjang Festival celebrates Gwangju’s iconic shopping district. The festival’s main attraction, the ‘Chungjang World Parade,’ features 13 neighborhoods from Gwangju participating with different themes, including competitive parades, movie concept parades, and parades from Asian countries ongoing without pause. Additionally, a nostalgic theme street replicates Chungjang-ro’s ’70s and ’80s appearance, where visitors of all generations, including the MZ generation, can enjoy retro experiences like drinking tea in old-style tea houses or taking black-and-white photos. The festival conveys its true spirit through playfulness, a sense of liberation through escapism, and community solidarity.