Ganghwa Island: From Dolmens to the Gate of Opening강화도: 고인돌부터 개항의 관문까지

Ganghwa, an island guarding the mouth of the Han River just west of Seoul, has stood at the front door of Korean history for 5,000 years. Its oldest residents left dolmens — massive prehistoric stone tombs — and together with sites at Gochang and Hwasun they were inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage in 2000. On the summit of Manisan sits Chamseongdan, a stone altar where, according to legend, Dangun — the mythical founder of the first Korean kingdom — offered rites to heaven. History kept returning here. When the Mongols invaded in the 13th century, the Goryeo court fled to Ganghwa and ruled from the island for decades; the famous Tripitaka Koreana woodblocks were carved during that resistance. Then, in the 19th century, Ganghwa became the stage where old Korea met the modern world at gunpoint: French forces landed in 1866, an American expedition fought a fierce battle at Gwangseongbo fortress in 1871, and after a Japanese gunboat provoked a clash in 1875, Korea signed the Treaty of Ganghwa in 1876 — its first modern treaty, which opened the country's ports. Today the island is an easy day trip layered with fortresses, temples, and quiet mudflats, a compressed textbook of Korean history you can walk through.