Discover places worth seeing — from historic sites to mountain trails.
Historic sites & memorials
제주시
In the middle of Jeju City, between roads and hotels, lies a quiet grove of old trees. On the lawn inside are three shallow hollows, and for centuries Jeju people have believed that the island's history began here. Samseonghyeol, the "cave…
Historic sites & memorials
제주시
On a gentle slope in the hills above Aewol, grassy earthen walls run across the landscape. The Hangpaduri Historic Site of Anti-Mongolian Struggle marks the last stronghold of the Sambyeolcho, the Goryeo army units that refused to accept p…
Historic sites & memorials
제주시
In the uplands of Bonggae-dong, Jeju City, low stone walls and memorial stones stretch across a broad hillside. Jeju 4·3 Peace Park is a memorial park and museum for the people killed during the Jeju 4·3 events, which lasted from 1947 to 1…
Historic sites & memorials
제천시
When Chungju Dam flooded the old county town of Cheongpung, its heritage was moved up the hillside and rebuilt here. Government offices, a Confucian school, old houses and stone monuments now stand above the lake, led by Hanbyeongnu, a pav…
Historic sites & memorials
서울특별시
Jongmyo is the royal ancestral shrine where the spirit tablets of the kings and queens of the Joseon dynasty were kept and honoured with rites. It lies in the middle of Jongno in central Seoul, yet behind its walls the woods, wide stone co…
Historic sites & memorials
진천군
From a distance it looks like a giant centipede crossing the stream. Jincheon Nongdari is a stone bridge whose 28 piers of small reddish stones wind across the Segeumcheon. What makes it special is that the stones were stacked without lime…
Historic sites & memorials
창녕군
On the western foot of Hwawangsan, just east of central Changnyeong, rows of grassy burial mounds rise one after another. These are the Ancient Tombs in Gyo-dong and Songhyeon-dong, built for the elite of Bihwa Gaya, who ruled the area in…
Historic sites & memorials
천안시
Out in the fields of Seonghwan near Cheonan, a lone stele stands on the back of a stone turtle. It records the founding of Bongseon Honggyeongsa, a temple built by King Hyeonjong of Goryeo, and it is a National Treasure. The temple vanishe…
Historic sites & memorials
철원군
On a low rise at the edge of the Cheorwon plain stands a three-storey concrete shell with every window blown out. The Korean Workers' Party Headquarters was built by the North Korean ruling party after liberation, and when the Korean War f…
Historic sites & memorials
청주시
On the shore of Daecheong Lake, Cheongnamdae served as the presidents' private retreat for twenty years from 1983 before opening to the public in 2003. Its name means the Blue House of the warm south, and spacious gardens, pine-lined avenu…
Historic sites & memorials
충주시
South of Suanbo in Chungju, in a basin below Haneuljae, the old pass between North Chungcheong and North Gyeongsang, lies the Mireukdaewon temple site. A stone Buddha about 10.6 m tall stands inside a grotto built from huge stone blocks, a…
Historic sites & memorials
충주시
In the middle of a lawn, on a mound raised on purpose, stands a seven-storey stone pagoda. The Seven-story Stone Pagoda in Tappyeong-ri is the largest and tallest surviving pagoda from the Unified Silla period. Because it stands roughly at…
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…
Historic sites & memorials
파주시
In a pine forest in Tanhyeon-myeon, Paju, lie King Injo, the 16th king of Joseon, and his first queen, Queen Inyeol. Add the story of a king who lived through the Manchu invasion and the humiliation at Samjeondo to the tale of a tomb moved…
Historic sites & memorials
화천군
The Peace Dam stands 125 m tall on the upper Bukhan River in Hwacheon, not far from the inter-Korean border. As a flood-control dam it normally holds almost no water, so a huge concrete wall blocks an all but empty valley – a striking sigh…
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…
Historic sites & memorials
서울특별시
At the northern end of Daehangno, beside the road that climbs from Hyehwa-dong towards Seongbuk-dong, a small city gate stands on a rise. This is Hyehwamun, one of the four minor gates of the Seoul City Wall, long known simply as Dongsomun…
Historic sites & memorials
파주시
Hwaseokjeong is a Joseon-era pavilion on a cliff above the Imjin River at Yulgok-ri, Paju. It belonged to the family of Yi I (pen name Yulgok), one of Korea's great Confucian scholars, and a poem he is said to have written here at the age…
Historic sites & memorials
화성시
Yunggeolleung is the joint name for two Joseon royal tombs where the tragic Crown Prince Sado and his son, King Jeongjo, lie side by side. A son who lost his father as a child became king, moved his father's grave to an auspicious site, an…
Historic sites & memorials
서울특별시
Between the office towers and hotels near Seoul City Hall, a building with three tiers of octagonal roofs stands almost hidden. Hwangudan is the site of the altar where, in 1897, King Gojong offered sacrifices to Heaven, took the title of…
Historic sites & memorials
서울특별시
Hyochang Park in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, is a Historic Site where Kim Koo and other leaders of the independence movement are buried. Walking paths wind through pine woods, so at first glance it looks like an ordinary neighbourhood park, but eac…