World Cup Park (월드컵공원)

8.2Km 2024-10-23

243-60 World Cup-ro, Mapo-gu, Seoul

Opened on May 1st, 2002, the Wolrd Cup Park was once a 15-year-old landfill that held over 92 million tons of garbage. The park is located near Seoul World Cup Stadium, and is made up of five smaller parks - Pyeonghwa (Peace) Park, Haneul (Sky) Park, Noeul (Sunset) Park, Nanjicheon Park, and Nanji Hangang Park.

* Pyeonghwa Park: Closest to Seoul World Cup Stadium, it holds a pond, garden, children’s playground, and forest. As a representative park of World Cup Park, the park was designed in hopes of peace and harmony between mankind and nature. It is often used as a picnic area and place for nature studies.

* Nanji Hangang Park: Nanji Hangang Park was developed on the banks of the Hangang River. In contrast to other Hangang River parks, Nanji Hangang Park is a water-friendly park that has a gradual slope towards the riverbank. The park consists of a camping ground, soccer field, basketball court, grass field, cruise ship port, and an area for nature studies.

* Haneul Park: Haneul Park consists of vast grassland located at the highest elevation of the five parks. The park's pasture is covered with eulalias and wild flowers in their most natural state. In addition, 30,000 butterflies of different species were introduced in 2000 to stabilize the ecosystem. Five wind-powered generators provide power to the park and the park’s maintenance office. Once a mountain of garbage, it is now a green hill with 22 lookout points offering breathtaking views of Seoul, including the N Seoul Tower, Bukhansan Mountain, and Hangang River. Tall trees are line the park to provide shades and serve as resting spots for visitors. As a popular spot to enjoy the sight of eulalias, the park usually remains open until late in the evening during the Eulalia Festival period.

* Noeul Park: In order to prevent the vast area of land of what was once a wasteland from becoming an unnecessary chunk of land, a nine-hole golf course was constructed in what is now known as Noeul Park. The golf course serves as an environment friendly entertainment park to visitors while stabilizing the geographical formation and has an urban park nearby that offers scenic views of the Hangang River and beautiful sunset. Located west of the golf park is Noeul Square, decorated with shrubs and flowers.

* Nanjicheon Park: Nanjicheon Park was developed from the Nanji Stream, which flowed under Haneul Park. It was once overflowing with sewage runoff from a nearby landfill, but it has since been beautifully restored into a park with clear water. The park is built to serve as a recreational spot for those with for youths, elders, and people with disabilities.