Seomun Market

Seomun Market
Main gate of Seomun market.
Korean name
Hangul	서문시장
Hanja	西門市場
Revised Romanization	Seomun Sijang
McCune–Reischauer	Sŏmun Sichang

Seomun Market is the largest traditional street market in Daegu, South Korea, containing more than 4,000 shops. Seomun Market is particularly known as a source for textiles and sewing services, a key ingredient of Daegu's fashion industry.

The name "Seomun" means "west gate," and refers to the location of the market just outside the old west gate of Daegu Castle, which was demolished in 1907. It is also one of the country's oldest markets, dating to a 5-day market held in the area in the late Joseon Dynasty. In the final years of Joseon, Seomun market was one of the country's three largest markets. The market was constituted in its present form in 1920.^[1]

Although portions of the market are in the open air or small buildings, most of the shops are in large buildings holding hundreds or thousands of individual shops. The largest of these buildings was Building 2, which was destroyed by fire in late December 2005.^[2] Plans for the reconstruction of Building 2, which held the majority of the market's fabric shops, are still being made. There are four other building complexes, and two other large shopping areas. Side streets in the market area also feature a large number of indoor and outdoor food stalls with fish and traditional dishes.

The market can be reached both by Sinnam Station on Daegu Metro Line 2 and Seomun Market Station on Daegu Metro Line 3.

Chinese tea for sale in Seomun Market

See also

• List of markets in South Korea
• List of Korea-related topics
• List of South Korean tourist attractions
• Economy of South Korea

References

1. "100여년 역사 이어온 ‘큰장’…없는 것 빼고 다 있다". 대구신문 (in Korean). 19 August 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
2. "서문시장 화재, 9년 만에 또 다시 큰 불". News1 (in Korean). 11 February 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2015.

External links

• Seomun Sijang Information Center (Korean)

Coordinates: 35°52′09″N 128°34′50″E / 35.86923°N 128.58042°E