군항마을 역사길

[Photo Credit (Kim Ji-ho), Korea Tourism Organization] A big festival in the Naval Town The mecca of the Korean cherry blossom festival, beginning with the first festival on April 19, 1953, is by far the largest festival in Jinhae. Its origin dates back to time when the statue of Admiral Yi Sun-shin was set up at Bukwon Rotary and a memorial service was held. Jinhae Gunhangje Festival started as a local ceremony. However, as cherry blossoms always bloom at the time and the military marching band and cultural art event are held together, it has positioned itself as an international festival. When 360,000 cherry blossoms begin to bloom in the downtown of Jinhae, residents start cleaning roads and setting up tents. Tourists flock from all over the nation and take pictures of cherry blossoms that fill the city. Now that it has become famous to international visitors, many tourists from Thailand, China, Japan, and the U.S. come to Jinhae to see the fully bloomed cherry blossom in Jinhae. If you are going to Gunhangje Festival, you may not want to miss out on the Korea Naval Academy and the Command of Naval Base in Jinhae. They are usually not open to the public but they are accessible only during the festival. Along with breathtaking cherry blossoms, this must-visit spring festival offers plenty of activities, such as the exhibition of Turtle Ship and trying out naval uniform. Cherry blossoms in the main road are 100 years old or older, adding splendor to the festival. When you take a photo here, be careful not to capture the building of the Naval Base. The second tip is to find a way around the rotary. There are three rotaries, Jungwon, Bukwon, and Namwon, taking you to any tourist destinations. These rotaries are against the backdrop of efforts to make Jinhae into military town during the Japanese colonial era. Visitors can feel as if they are in the 20th century by looking at Jinhae Post Office, Heukbaek Cafe, Yeonghaeru Pavilion and Gunhang Village History Hall. During the festival, the roads around the rotary become no-car zones, enabling visitors to walk around freely. The third tip is to enjoy cherry blossoms anywhere. Of course, you can enjoy them in the downtown. But since Jinhae is quite a big city, you can enjoy your ride and see the cherry blossoms lined up on the side of the road along the coastal roads. If you don’t like to be in a crowded downtown, how about going on a drive to the Marine Park along the coast?

Central plaza of the Jinhae Gunhangje Festival In 1929, during the Japanese colonial era, the Japanese built the Navy Headquarters in Jinhae, surveyed the land, and constructed roads by dividing rice paddies and fields under the name of modernization. Jungwon Rotary was one of the results of the colonial era. Today, it plays a pivotal role of crossing the downtown of Jinhae in eight directions. If you walk down the Jinhae Modern Culture & History Trail nearby the rotary, you can see buildings explaining why Jinhae was once called the “Gunhang (naval port) Village.” Jinhae Post Office, the Historic Site No. 291; Chinese restaurant named Wonhaeru visited by the first president of Korea, Rhee Seung-man; Gunhang Village History Hall where you can see the history of Jinhae at a glance; Gunhang Village Theme Park; Gunhang Village Street and many other places will help you feel the modern history of Jinhae. Most of them are within five minutes of walking distance, so you look around the Jungwon rotary within a day. The area is restricted for the Gunhangje Festival every year and transformed into roads for the festival. The place is filled with various performances on the stage in the central plaza along with many things to enjoy such as parades and delicious food. Many good restaurants are clustered around the rotary. From affordable yet plentiful restaurants especially famous among taxi drivers to cherry blossom bread and ice cream, do not miss out on a single thing!

Enjoy cherry blossoms on a monorail If you look at the Jinhae Post Office from the Jungwon Rotary, you can see the Jinhae Tower on top of the Jehwangsan Mountain. Jehwangsan Mountain is often called the Jinhae Tower Mountain. It was originally named the Bueongsan Mountain, meaning that it looks like an owl on top of the mountain. Its name was changed to Jehwangsan Mountain after the liberation of Korea. It is by far the best place you can see the city of Jinhae at 360 degrees. You can either walk or ride on a monorail to go to the tower located on the top of the mountain. By choosing a round trip or one-way ticket, you can comfortably enjoy the view of the downtown of Jinhae. The stair next to the monorail is called the 1-Year Stairs because it consists of 365 steps. Many people walk up to the top as an exercise. On the top where the Jinhae Tower stands used to be the site for the Memorial Tower of the Russian-Japanese War during the Japanese colonial era. In 1967, it was demolished and the nine-story tower was constructed to symbolize the warship of the ROK navy. Recently, it was designated as the Modern Building of Changwon-si No.3. If you take an elevator or walk up the stairs, you can see the entire city at a glance. The view of the city colored in cherry blossom pink during the Gunhangje Festival creates a jaw-dropping scenery. You can also look at the history, culture, and relics of Jinhae at the Jinhae Museum of Changwon City located on the second floor of the Tower. At the museum, you can get to know more about Jinhae by looking at the exhibition including Jinhae during the Japanese colonial era and the letter left by Baekbeom Kim Gu during his visit.

Jinhae Tower is an observatory and a museum located on top of Jehwangsan Mountain. It is designated as the Modern Building of Changwon-si No.3. On the top of the mountain, there used to be a memorial monument made after the mast (a long pole rising from the deck of a ship) of the Mikasa battleship, which served as the flagship (a vessel used by the commanding officer) of the Battle of Korea Strait, to commemorate Japan’s victory from the Russia-Japan War by defeating the Baltic Fleet. However, it was demolished and replaced with a new nine-story concrete tower, symbolizing Korean Navy on September 20, 1967 following the public opinion to destroy the emblem of the national disgrace after the liberation in 1945. The first floor is dedicated to the Jinhae City Museum and the second floor is to the reference library, which features artifacts excavated around the Jinhae area. From the 3rd to the 8th floor, you can either walk stairs or use an elevator to go up and down. You can overlook the whole city of Jinhae and its surrounding coast on every floor through a large clear window.

Jinhae Station is a railway station of the Jinhae Line in Yeojwa-dong, Jinhae-gu, Changwon-si, Gyeongsangnam-do Province. As Tonghae Station, the last station of the Jinhae Line, is located in a military reservation area, Jinhae Station is considered to be the final destination of the line. This building was designated as a Registered Cultural Heritage No. 192 on September 14, 2005. KORAIL and Changwon-si agreed to stop its operation in February 1, 2015 and only run a tourist train in every April for Jinhae Gunhangje Festival. Only freight trains run on Hangamseon line of the Jinhae branch line in the normal days. Jinhae Station still preserves the form and scale of the regional train station in the year 1926 when it was founded. The platform is in a unique form of combining island platform and terminal platform. In April, visitors fill the station to enjoy the Jinhae Gunhangje Festival. Jinhae is home to a large number of navy forces. The station used to have Traffic Management Office (TMO), but it transferred to Changwon Jungang Station when the Jinhae Station closed down due to the suspension of passenger service.