Gyeongju Historic Areas: UNESCO World Cultural Heritage

According to the UNESCO website, "The Gyeongju Historic Areas contain a remarkable concentration of outstanding examples of Korean Buddhist art, in the form of sculptures, reliefs, pagodas, and the remains of temples and palaces from the flowering, in particular between the 7th and 10th centuries, of this form of unique artistic expression."

For sure, "remarkable" is the right adjective to use when describing the historic sites of Gyeongju.

Gyeongju was the capital city of Korea's ancient Silla Dynasty during the years 668-935.  And it was during that time period when many of the historic sites in Gyeongju were created.  So if you want to see a lot of important Korean historical sites in a day or two, Gyeongju is the place to go.

Within walking distance from the Gyeongju bus terminal you will find some ancient tombs.  The tombs of the Silla kings were made in the shape of giant earthen mounds as you can see in the photo above.  This sort of tomb is found in other places in Korea too.

Adjacent to the tomb park is Cheomseongdae, the oldest astronomical observatory in East Asia, having been built between the years 632-647.  The structure is 5.17 meters wide and 9.4 meters high.  The interior was filled with sand and pebbles up to the hole where a person could enter and reach the top.

Around the corner from Cheomsoengdae is Seokbinggo, an ancient ice storage chamber.  Actually, you have to take a short hike along a walking path to get to it, but it's not difficult to find.  

Two more sites within walking distance are Anapji Pond and the Gyeongju Museum.  Anapji Pond is thought to have been where banquets were held for royal guests and such.  One interesting artifact that was excavated was a 14-sided die used for playing drinking games.  Each of the faces of the die had instructions for the roller such as "Drink 3 Glasses At Once" or "Laugh Loudly While Drinking" and "Sing And Drink Alone".

Out in front of the Gyeongju Museum along the main road is a bus stop where you can get a ride to Bulguksa Temple.  From Bulguksa Temple, you can get another bus to Seokguram Grotto.  Both sites are very important historical sites.

Bulguksa has two famous stone pagodas inside the temple grounds that help make it the most beautiful temple in Korea.  One of the pagodas, Dabotap pictured above, is the image used on the 10 Won coin.

On the outside of the main temple hall pictured above there is a carving of a rat.  The rat is hidden.  I looked for it for 15 minutes and couldn't find it.  So I called for help from a Korean friend who knew.  If you want me to tell you where the rat is, send me an email.  Good luck finding it!

Seokguram is a stone statue of Buddha inside a man made cave.  To get to Seokguram from Bulguksa is easy.  There is a tourist information center in the parking lot where you can get help finding the right bus to get on.  There is a short ride and then a short hike to get to the site.  There is a glass partition you have to stand behind when viewing the statue and no pictures are allowed, so it was a bit of a letdown for me.

Sitting at my desk and looking back at the three times I've been to Gyeongju, I can easily recommend this trip.  I've been there during the spring, summer, and fall.  My favorite times to go were during the fall in mid-November while the tree leaves were still changing colors and during the spring when the Cherry Blossom Trees outside of Bulguksa were in full bloom. 

Online Resources:

UNESCO

Korea Tourism Organization