71 attractions in South Gyeongsang, including Dongpirang Village (Tongyeong), Samdo Sugun Tongjeyeong and Yokjido Island.
Old towns & squares
통영시
Behind Jungang Market, Tongyeong's best-known fish market, small houses cling to the hillside: this is Dongpirang. It was nearly lost to redevelopment, but murals painted on its walls drew visitors, public opinion swung behind saving it, a…
Historic sites & memorials
통영시
The city of Tongyeong takes its name from this place, the Tongjeyeong. It was the headquarters of the Samdo Sugun Tongjesa, the commander of the navies of three provinces, Chungcheong, Jeolla and Gyeongsang, and from 1605 to 1895 it was th…
Coast & islands
통영시
Of the many islands scattered off Tongyeong, Yokjido stands out for its well-made coastal road that loops right around the island, ideal for a slow drive or bike ride. On its roughly 12.5 km² you will find fishing villages, sweet-potato fi…
Historic sites & memorials
통영시
Chungnyeolsa is a shrine on a hillside in Myeongjeong-dong, central Tongyeong, that holds the spirit tablet of Admiral Yi Sun-sin. It was built by royal order in 1606, only a few years after the Imjin War, and for almost three centuries th…
Viewpoints
통영시
Eight-seat gondolas carry you up Mireuksan in Tongyeong in about nine minutes. The official name, the Hallyeo Waterway Observation Cable Car, says what it is for: looking down over the Hallyeo Waterway, the chain of islands scattered acros…
Industrial heritage
통영시
Beneath the narrow channel between central Tongyeong and Mireukdo Island runs a 483 m tunnel you can walk through. Completed in 1932, the Tongyeong Undersea Tunnel is regarded as the first undersea structure in East Asia, and today it carr…
Historic sites & memorials
하동군
Over the ridge from Cheonghak-dong on Jirisan, at about 850 m above sea level, stone towers and dry-stone walls climb the hillside in terraces. Samseonggung is a place of worship and spiritual practice dedicated to Hwanin, Hwanung and Dang…
Churches & monasteries
하동군
Ssanggyesa sits on the southern foothills of Jirisan, in Hwagae-myeon, Hadong County, at the spot where two mountain streams meet. It was founded in 722, and in its courtyard still stands a stele composed and written by Choe Chi-won, the m…
Other
하동군
On a hillside above the wide Akyang plain in Hadong, at the foot of Jirisan, stands a house that first existed only in a novel. Choi Champandaek recreates the family home of Choi Seo-hui, heroine of Park Kyung-ni's epic novel Toji (The Lan…
Nature
하동군
Halfway up the hill behind Daechuk village in Akyang, Hadong, a pine tree sits astride a huge flat boulder. Its roots have split the rock and wrapped around it, as if the tree had no need for soil at all. This is Munamsong (文岩松), and from…
Other
하동군
Where the Seomjingang River meets the Hwagaecheon stream, with Hadong in Gyeongsang Province on one bank and Gurye in Jeolla Province on the other, sits Hwagae Market. For generations people from the two regions crossed here to trade goods…
Museums
하동군
On the southern slopes of Jirisan, on the road up to Ssanggyesa Temple in Hwagae-myeon, the Hadong Wild Tea Museum is a public museum about the tea culture of Hwagae, known as the place where tea growing began in Korea. It tells the story…
Coast & islands
통영시
About 25 minutes by boat from Tongyeong harbour lies the island where Admiral Yi Sun-sin kept his headquarters: Hansando. The Battle of Hansan Island fought offshore in 1592 is counted among the turning points of the Imjin War, and Jeseung…
Historic sites & memorials
함안군
In the middle of Gaya-eup, Haman, round burial mounds rise one after another along a low ridge running north to south. The Marisan Tumuli are the tombs of the ruling class of Ara Gaya, a Gaya state centred on what is now Haman, with large…
Historic sites & memorials
함양군
Namgyeseowon sits on a low hill beside the Namgyecheon Stream in Sudong-myeon, Hamyang. Founded in 1552, it was the second seowon (Confucian academy) in Korea after Sosuseowon in Yeongju, and its layout, with study halls at the front and t…
Nature
함양군
In front of Mokhyeon village in Hamyang, beside a small stream, stands a pine that splits into several trunks right from the base and spreads out like a huge round umbrella. Because its limbs once divided nine ways, it is called Gusong (九松…
Nature
함양군
Hamyang Sangnim is a forest said to have been planted along a riverbank by the scholar Choe Chi-won, while he was governor of Hamyang in late Silla, to protect the town from floods. It is considered the oldest man-made forest in Korea and…
Historic sites & memorials
합천군
On low hills above a bend in the Hwanggang River in Ssangchaek-myeon, Hapcheon, 18 large burial mounds 20–30 m across line the ridge. The Okjeon Tumuli are thought to hold the rulers of Dara, one of the small Gaya states. Swords decorated…
Historic sites & memorials
합천군
Hambyeongnu is a two-storey pavilion on a cliff above the Hwanggang River in Hapcheon town, South Gyeongsang. First built in 1321 under the Goryeo dynasty, it is known for being set so close to the edge that rain from its eaves drops strai…
Mountains & peaks
합천군
Rising on the border of Hapcheon and Sancheong counties in South Gyeongsang, Hwangmaesan was for a long time hard to find even in hiking guides. It became known after being designated a county park in 1983, and today it stands with Gayasan…
Museums
사천시
Next to Sacheon airfield, the KAI Aerospace Museum was built by Korea Aerospace Industries, the company that makes Korea's own aircraft. Its outdoor park lines up 26 real aircraft, including rarities such as a Korean War-era B-29 bomber an…
Churches & monasteries
합천군
Haeinsa sits halfway up Gayasan in Hapcheon, South Gyeongsang Province, and is famous for the Tripitaka Koreana, the Buddhist canon carved on wooden blocks in the Goryeo period, and for Janggyeong Panjeon, the halls built to store them. It…
Mountains & peaks
창녕군
Hwawangsan rises to 756 m east of Changnyeong town, and its broad summit plateau turns silver with pampas grass in autumn and pink with azaleas in spring. A stone wall about 2.6 km around, Hwawangsanseong Fortress, encloses that plateau, s…