Beolgyo Hongyo Stone Arch Bridge

In the middle of Beolgyo, a stone bridge with three rainbow-shaped arches crosses the tidal Beolgyocheon stream. This is the Beolgyo Hongyo Bridge, a Joseon-era structure listed as a Treasure and the largest surviving arch bridge of its kind in Korea. Almost 300 years after it was built, local people still walk across it every day.

From raft bridge to stone bridge

The town takes its very name from a bridge. Before the stone one was built, people crossed here on rafts lashed together, so the place became known as Beolgyo, "raft bridge".

The stone bridge is said to have been built in 1729 by monks from Seonamsa Temple in Suncheon (some sources give 1723). In Buddhism, building a bridge so that others can cross safely is a great act of merit. During repairs in 1737 it took its present form with three arches, and it was mended again in 1844. What you see today was recovered in a four-year restoration from 1981 to 1984. It was designated a Treasure in 1963.

What to see

• The three arches: a hongyo is a bridge whose stones are laid so that the underside forms a semicircle. The bridge is about 27 m long and 4.5 m wide, and walking across you feel the gentle rise in the middle. Originally it may have been around 4 m wide and as long as 80 m.
• Dragon heads: at the crown of each arch a stone carved as a dragon's head juts down towards the water, a folk belief linking dragons and water. Wind chimes once hung from the dragons' noses and rang when the wind blew. Go down to the bank and look up under the arches to see them.
• Tides: the stream is tidal. At low tide the bed under the bridge is almost fully exposed; at high tide most of the arches disappear under water. The same bridge looks completely different a few hours apart.
• A birthday for the bridge: local tradition says residents hold a 60th-birthday feast for the bridge every 60 years.

The setting of "The Taebaek Mountains"

Beolgyo is the main setting of Jo Jung-rae's epic novel "The Taebaek Mountains". About 140 m from the bridge stands the House of Kim Beom-u from the novel, and about 600 m away is Sohwa Bridge (Buyonggyo), which also appears in the story. You can continue on foot to the Taebaek Mountains Literature Museum, the Hyeon family house and the old Boseong Inn, which appears in the novel as the Namdo Inn.

Tripto tips

• When to go: come at low tide to see the full arches and the dragon heads, and return at high tide to see them half submerged. Winter is the season for Beolgyo's famous cockles (kkomak).
• Time needed: 30 minutes for the bridge; half a day with the literary walk, a circuit of about 4 km through town.
• Admission: free and always open.
• Getting there: Beolgyo Station on the Gyeongjeon Line is about 1.1 km in a straight line from the bridge, an easy walk.
• Compare: Seungseongyo Bridge at Seonamsa in Suncheon, the temple of the monks who built Beolgyo's bridge, is another fine stone arch bridge.