Goryeo Celadon Museum

Set in Sadang-ri, Daegu-myeon in Gangjin County, this museum stands on the very ground where Goryeo potters fired their celadon. 188 kiln sites have been identified in the area, and the museum holds the results of their excavation along with more than 30,000 celadon fragments. What sets it apart is that after the galleries you can shape clay yourself or buy celadon made here today.

The village where celadon was born

Daegu-myeon had everything a kiln needed: the sea close by to the south for shipping pottery, firewood from the hills to the north, and kaolin and quartz in the ground. Kilns worked here throughout the Goryeo period, and the kiln sites of Yongun-ri, Gyeyul-ri, Sadang-ri and Sudong-ri were made a national Historic Site in 1963. Sadang-ri, where the museum stands, belongs to the middle and late Goryeo period, when jade-green glazes and inlaid celadon reached their peak. In 1994 the kiln sites were also placed on South Korea's tentative list for UNESCO World Heritage.

The museum opened in 1997 as the Gangjin Celadon Exhibition Hall and later took its current name. The collection counts 189 complete pieces and some 30,000 shards, and the broken pieces are the real draw of a kiln-site museum: their cross-sections reveal the clay body, the thickness of the glaze and how the inlay was set into the surface.

What to see

• Main galleries: the story of Gangjin celadon in chronological order, from early 9th–10th-century wares through the 12th-century peak of jade-green and inlaid celadon to the decline in the 14th century.
• Kiln sites and traditional kilns: excavated kilns under protective shelters and wood-fired kilns around the museum. The official kiln is fired about four times a year.
• Celadon reproduction workshop: around ten artisans research figurative celadon, wheel-throwing and carving here. Pieces are bisque-fired at about 800 °C and glaze-fired at 1,200–1,300 °C.
• Goryeo Celadon Digital Museum: an immersive media-art exhibition about celadon, free of charge.
• Clay workshop and shop: try shaping, carving or coiling clay, and buy reproduction celadon made in Gangjin.

Gangjin Celadon Festival

The museum grounds host the Gangjin Celadon Festival every year. In 2026 the 54th edition ran from 21 February to 2 March with demonstrations, workshops and sales. Dates can change from year to year, so check the Gangjin County website.

Tripto tips

• Hours: main museum 09:00–18:00 (last entry 17:30), digital museum 10:00–17:00. Closed on Mondays; if Monday is a public holiday, it closes on the next weekday instead. The clay workshop and the shop are open all year.
• Tickets: adults KRW 2,000, teenagers and soldiers KRW 1,500, children KRW 1,000. The digital museum and parking are free.
• Time needed: about an hour for the galleries, two hours or more with a workshop.
• Getting there: the museum is about 15 km south of Gangjin town. Rural buses run from Gangjin Bus Terminal towards Daegu-myeon, but they are not frequent, so a car is easier. Add Maryang Port further south for a half-day trip.
• Combine it with: a museum of Korean folk painting stands right next door.