Thursday, June 4, 2015

South Korea

Postcard of the Gyeonghoeru Pavilion (경회루) in the Gyeongbokgung Palace (경복궁), one of the former royal palaces of the Joseon dynasty. Originally built in 1395 and reconstructed at various times, in the early twentieth century, much of the palace was systematically destroyed by Imperial Japan. The Gyeonghoeru Pavilion is one of just a handful of buildings to have survived, although there is now a large-scale restoration project to restore the Palace to its original form.

Had a bit of trouble finding info about these stamps, but the one on the left features the poplar admiral, Limenitis populi, a large butterfly found across Europe and Asia, and the stamp on the right features rose of Sharon, Hibiscus syriacus, a flowering shrub originally from East Asia.