Historic Monuments and Sites in Kaesong

Twelve monuments in and around Kaesong chart the rise of the Koryo Dynasty, which ruled a newly unified Korea from the 10th to the 14th centuries with this city as its capital. Palace foundations, defensive walls, tombs, schools and an astronomical observatory follow a layout governed by geomantic principles, blending Buddhist, Confucian and Taoist thought into the fabric of a royal capital — and recording East Asia's gradual turn toward neo-Confucianism. UNESCO listed the ensemble as a World Heritage Site in 2013.