A new photo album here - The Korean Bell of Friendship and Bell Pavilion, Angels Gate Park, San Pedro - thirty-three shots from Thursday, March 9, 2006 - a visit to the Korean "Bell of Friendship" and Bell Pavilion at Angels Gate Park in San Pedro, the southern tip of Los Angeles at the entrance to the harbor - "Angel's Gate."

This day a production company was, oddly enough, filming a Viagra commercial at the at the nearby basketball court. And folks were flying peculiar kites. The bell was, too, featured in the movie "The Usual Suspects." Nothing is uncontaminated out here.

The bell and its pavilion, as explained here (San Pedro Chamber of Commerce), were donated in 1976 by the Republic of Korea for our Bicentennial, and to honor veterans of the Korean War, and "to consolidate traditional friendship between the two countries."

The bell is patterned after the Bronze Bell of King Songdok, cast in 771 AD - still on view in South Korea. The bell is rung only four times each year - the Fourth of July, August 15 (Korean Independence Day) and New Year's Eve, and every September to celebrate Constitution week.

What else?

The bell was cast in Korea and shipped to the United States. Weighing 17 tons, with a height of twelve feet and a diameter of 7-1/2 feet, the bell is made of copper and tin, with gold, nickel, lead and phosphorous added for tone quality. When it was built, it cost the Korean people $500,000. Four pairs of figures, each pair consisting of the Goddess of Liberty holding a torch, and a Korean spirit , are engraved in relief on the body of the bell. Each of the Korean spirits holds up a different symbol: a symbolic design of the Korean flag; a branch of the rose of Sharon, Korea's national flower; a branch of laurel, symbol of victory; and a dove of peace. The bell has no clapper but is struck from the outside with a wooden log.

The bell is set in a pagoda-like stone structure which was constructed on the site by thirty craftsmen flown in from Korea. It took them ten months and costs $569,680. The pavilion is supported by twelve columns representing the twelve designs of the Oriental zodiac. Animals stand guard at the base of each column.

Resting peacefully on the knoll overlooking the sea gate from which U.S. troops sailed into the Pacific, the bell site affords an unsurpassed view of the Los Angeles harbor, the Catalina Channel and the sea terraces of San Pedro hill.

From the album… What's this about Viagra?

If you use any of these photos for commercial purposes I assume you'll discuss that with me.  

There is a copyright notice at the bottom of this page, of course.

These were shot with a Nikon D70 – lens AF-5 Nikor 18-70mm 1:35-4.5G ED or AF Nikor 70-300mm telephoto.

They were modified for web posting using Adobe Photoshop 7.0

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