Gwangju National Museum

In 1975 a fisherman's net off Jeungdo Island in Sinan, South Jeolla, brought up a piece of Chinese porcelain. Underwater excavations began the following year and revealed a large trading ship that sank in 1323, along with tens of thousands of objects. Gwangju National Museum opened on 6 December 1978 to look after this treasure and to present the heritage of the Honam region, the southwest of Korea. Admission is free, and you can take your time over everything from Goryeo celadon to Song and Yuan ceramics recovered from the seabed.

History: a museum built around a shipwreck

The Sinan ship was a 200-ton merchant vessel sailing the 14th-century sea routes that linked Korea, China and Japan. Over nine years of excavation, from 1976 to 1984, around 27,000 objects were raised, including more than 25,000 ceramics and 28 tonnes of coins, as well as everyday items used on board and red sandalwood.

The main building was designed in 1977 by the architect Park Chun-myeong, who translated the form of a traditional pavilion into reinforced concrete. Today the museum looks after some 160,000 objects, including National Treasures and Treasures.

What to see

• Ceramic Culture Hall: a dedicated ceramics building that opened in December 2025. The Korean ceramics gallery follows a thousand years of pottery in three parts, from Goryeo celadon to Joseon buncheong ware and white porcelain, while the Sinan gallery uses the ship and its cargo to tell the story of maritime trade in medieval East Asia.
• Digital Art Zone: inside the Ceramic Culture Hall, an immersive room with a 60-metre panoramic screen that shows how earth, water and fire turn into ceramics.
• History galleries in the main building: a walk through Honam's past from prehistory to Goryeo and Joseon. Look out for the bronze rattles of the Hwasun Daegok-ri bronze set, a National Treasure, and the large jar coffins from the Yeongsan River basin.
• Twin-lion stone lantern: in the entrance lobby of the main building stands the twin-lion stone lantern from Jungheung Fortress, two lions standing chest to chest to hold up the light chamber, a fine piece of Unified Silla stone carving.
• Buddhist art: reliquaries recovered from pagodas, gilt-bronze Buddhas and arhat figures from across the Honam region are also on display.
• Outdoor exhibition: the museum garden holds dolmens, stone pagodas and Buddhist stone carvings. The Goryeo-period five-storey pagoda makes a pleasant spot for a stroll.

Good to know

South Jeolla is ceramics country, with countless kiln sites spanning Goryeo celadon, buncheong ware and white porcelain. That is why the museum studies local finds and the Sinan cargo side by side, as a centre for Korean and Asian ceramic culture. Comparing the bowls that lay on the seabed for more than 600 years with those dug up on land is part of what makes a visit here different.

Tripto tips

• Opening hours: the museum is open 10:00–18:00 (last entry 17:30); the garden 08:00–20:00.
• Closed: 1 January and on Seollal (Lunar New Year) and Chuseok days. Check the official website for any other closures.
• Admission: the permanent galleries are free; paid special exhibitions are charged separately.
• Time needed: about 1 hour for the main building, around 2 hours if you add the Ceramic Culture Hall and the garden.
• Nearby: Gwangju Museum of Art is roughly 500 m away on foot, so the two fit easily into one day.