West of central Kaesong there is a twin tomb of King Kyonghyo (Kongmin), the 31st King of Koryo, and his queen.
After the queen’s death the king designed the tombs and had them built for 7 years from 1365 to 1372 by mobilizing people.
It consists of tomb section, sections for sculptures of civilian and military officials and a hall for memorial services. The tombs of the king and queen lie side by side. Lower parts of the tombs, built of granite, are engraved with the patterns of clouds and 12 land gods. They each form a dodecagon. Murals are found on the walls of the coffin chamber; the sun, the Big Dipper and Orion’s belt on the ceiling and 12 land gods on the western and eastern walls. The stone altar weighs 7.2 tons. The mausoleum is flanked by hexangular stone posts. In 1905 the Japanese imperialists stole all the precious things in the tombs. Except one corner of the mausoleum that was broken at that time, it is preserved in its original state.
Vivid sculptures of the officials and animals show the high granite processing technique at that time. It is registered as a world heritage site.
