Discover places worth seeing — from historic sites to mountain trails.
Churches & monasteries
서울특별시
Gilsangsa, on a hillside in Seongbuk-dong, began life as Daewongak, one of Seoul's best-known high-end restaurants for entertaining guests. Its owner Kim Young-han donated the land and buildings to the monk Beopjeong, and it became a templ…
Churches & monasteries
김제시
Geumsansa is a large temple on the slopes of Moaksan in Gimje, North Jeolla. It is said to have been founded around 599 under the Baekje kingdom and became famous as a centre of devotion to Maitreya, the Buddha of the future. Its huge Mire…
Churches & monasteries
김천시
On the eastern slopes of Hwangaksan, Jikjisa is the head temple of the Jogye Order's 8th district, overseeing 54 branch temples across north-western North Gyeongsang. Its name means "pointing straight with a finger", and there is plenty to…
Churches & monasteries
남양주시
In the foothills of Unaksan in Namyangju, Bongseonsa, whose name means "serving the late king", was named to pray for the soul of King Sejo of Joseon, who lies in Gwangneung right next door. Unusually for a Korean temple, the main hall's n…
Churches & monasteries
남양주시
Halfway up Ungilsan, Sujongsa looks straight down on Dumulmeori (Yangsu-ri), where the North Han and South Han rivers meet. The early Joseon scholar Seo Geo-jeong is said to have called it the temple with the finest view in the East, and t…
Churches & monasteries
남원시
In the farmland of Sannae-myeon, Namwon, with the ridges of Jirisan rising behind like a folding screen, a temple stands at the end of a path between rice paddies. Unlike most Korean temples, which sit deep in the mountains, Silsangsa is b…
Churches & monasteries
남해군
Boriam is a hermitage set into the cliffs near the summit of Geumsan in Namhae, surrounded by strangely shaped rocks. Together with Hongnyeonam at Naksansa in Yangyang and Bomunsa on Ganghwa Island, it is counted among Korea's three great…
Churches & monasteries
단양군
Drive deep into a valley of Sobaeksan and an unusual sight appears: multi-storey halls stacked like steps up both slopes. Guinsa in Danyang is the head temple of the Cheontae Order of Korean Buddhism, overseeing more than 140 temples natio…
Churches & monasteries
대구
Where the Nakdong River makes a wide bend in Dalseong County, south-west of Daegu, the buildings of Dodong Seowon climb a hillside one terrace at a time. The academy honours Kim Goeng-pil, one of the Five Sages of Joseon Neo-Confucianism,…
Churches & monasteries
당진시
Solmoe, meaning "a small hill thick with pines", is the birthplace of St Andrew Kim Dae-geon, the first Korean Catholic priest. Four generations of his family, from his great-grandfather to Kim himself, lived here and died as martyrs, and…
Churches & monasteries
대구
Two slender spires rise side by side over the Gyesan five-way junction in central Daegu. Gyesan-dong Cathedral, finished in 1902, was the first Western-style church in Gyeongsang Province and is one of Korea's few Gothic churches with twin…
Churches & monasteries
대구
Donghwasa stands on the southern slopes of Palgongsan in Dohak-dong, Dong-gu, Daegu, about 22 km north-east of the city centre. It is the head temple of the 9th District of the Jogye Order, overseeing many temples across Daegu and North Gy…
Churches & monasteries
대구
On the southern slope of Palgongsan, between Donghwasa and Pagyesa, sits a quiet temple. Buinsa is small, but it is said to have housed the First Tripitaka Koreana, Korea's first complete carving of the Buddhist canon in the Goryeo period,…
Churches & monasteries
대구
On the western slopes of Palgongsan, Pagyesa is a quiet temple wrapped in forest and streams, and a royal prayer temple with close ties to the Joseon court, above all to King Yeongjo. True to a name that means gathering the streams, a deep…
Churches & monasteries
강화군
Climb the steps of a low hill in the centre of Ganghwa-eup and, beyond a tall gate, you find a hanok with a two-tiered tiled roof. The board under the eaves reads "Cheonjuseongjeon", Holy Hall of the Lord, and a cross stands at the end of…
Churches & monasteries
서울특별시
On the way up to Baegundae, the highest peak of Bukhansan, a temple sits above the Ui-dong valley. Doseonsa stands at about 400 m, the highest temple in Seoul that can be reached by car, and it is the largest temple complex on Bukhansan. A…
Churches & monasteries
동해시
Enter Mureung Valley, which runs between Dutasan and Cheongoksan in Donghae, and you will find Samhwasa close to its mouth. The name means "harmony of three", a wish attributed to Wang Geon, founder of the Goryeo dynasty. It is a natural s…
Churches & monasteries
서울특별시
Myeongdong Cathedral stands on the hill above Myeong-dong as the cathedral of the Catholic Archdiocese of Seoul. It was Korea's first parish with a resident priest and the first church in the country built in the Gothic style. Climb the st…
Churches & monasteries
인제군
Baekdamsa sits at the mouth of the deep valleys of Inner Seorak, inside Seoraksan National Park. It is where the independence activist and poet Manhae Han Yong-un stayed and wrote his poetry collection The Silence of Love, and it is famous…
Churches & monasteries
포항시
Bogyeongsa sits at the foot of Naeyeonsan Mountain in the north of Pohang and is the largest temple in the city. Its name means "temple of the precious mirror", and it comes from a founding legend about a mirror buried in the ground. From…
Churches & monasteries
파주시
Bogwangsa, at the foot of Goryeongsan in Gwangtan-myeon, Paju, was the temple that cared for Soryeongwon, the tomb of Lady Choe, mother of King Yeongjo. Royal connections are everywhere: a main-hall name board said to be in Yeongjo's own h…
Churches & monasteries
보령시
Head east from central Boryeong into the valleys of Seongjusan and you reach a wide lawn ringed by mountains, with four stone pagodas standing in a row. This is the site of Seongjusa, once one of the great Zen monasteries of Silla. Its hal…
Churches & monasteries
보은군
Beopjusa, founded in 553 at the foot of Songnisan, is the head temple of the 5th district of the Jogye Order and home to Palsangjeon, the only wooden pagoda in Korea to survive in its historic form. With three National Treasures and more t…
Churches & monasteries
서울특별시
A short climb from the Sinchon university district towards Ansan brings you to Bongwonsa, a temple with more than a thousand years of history. It is the head temple of the Taego Order of Korean Buddhism and the guardian of Yeongsanjae, a r…