Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty

Forty royal tombs at eighteen sites across Gyeonggi Province and beyond trace the burial tradition of Korea's Joseon kings and queens from 1408 all the way to 1966. Each was sited according to strict geomantic principles — a hill at the back, water and distant ridges to the south — and equipped with a T-shaped wooden shrine, stone guardians of people and animals, and a red-spiked gate. UNESCO added the ensemble to the World Heritage List in 2009 as the closing chapter of five millennia of royal tomb building on the peninsula.