Gyeongju is the ancient capital of Silla and the historical and cultural source of contemporary Korea, with a dense collection of cultural relics. Gyeongju city and its surroundings are home to three World Heritage Sites: Bulguksa Temple and Grotto Temple, Jeongdong Folk Village, and Gyeongju Historic Site Area. In 2006, South Korea and Cambodia cooperated to hold the "Angkor-Gyeongju World Culture Expo" in Angkor, and South Korea obviously wanted to build Gyeongju into a world-class cultural capital like Angkor.
In the ancient city of Gyeongju, in front of the mountain is a large number of kofun and Silla period buildings
The "Gyeongju Historical Site Area" was successfully declared a World Cultural Heritage site in 2010, which is a world cultural heritage with a wide geographical range and many sites, and it can be said that half of the urban area of Gyeongju City is a World Heritage Site, and outside the urban area, it also includes Namsan and Myeonghae Mountain Castle. The author spent three days in Gyeongju, the first day went to the Area of Daeyeongwon and MoonSeong, the second day I returned from Liangdong to the Namsansan Tombs area, and the third day I returned from the Bulguksa Temple to the Area around the Namsan Unification Hall and the Gyeongju Museum and The Wild Goose And Duck Pond. Among the sites in the Gyeongju Historical Site Area, there are still areas such as Myeonghae Mountain Castle that have not been visited.
The most striking thing about Gyeongju's urban area is the large number of kofun tombs. In the city, the kofun groups are scattered and can be seen almost everywhere. The entrance fee-collected Daelungen is the place with the highest concentration of kofun tombs, one of which has undergone archaeological excavations and can be visited inside, and the excavated Silla King's golden crown and golden belt are collected in the Gyeongju Museum, and there are replicas of the Tenma Tomb. There is a relatively large group of ancient tombs opposite and east of the Great Lingyuan, in addition, there are also small ancient tombs around Moon Castle and Finhwangsa Temple, and the tombs of several important historical figures in the unified Silla period, such as the tomb of General Kim Yu-shin, are in the west of the city.
The Kofun Group in Gyeongju Castle
Pegasus Tomb
All the ancient tomb styles are similar, that is, very common steamed bun-shaped dirt bags, the difference is only in size, the largest is about three stories high, the small and our side of the civilian luxury earthen tomb similar. It is not clear whether there were any ground buildings at the time of construction, but judging by the density of the ancient tombs, it seems impossible to build a group of buildings in one tomb. The structure of the underground cemetery is relatively simple, the burial chamber is not large, about three meters long, about one meter wide, a shallow tomb, the tomb is surrounded by a multi-layered stone structure, and there are some intermediate levels such as fine sand. The golden crown and gold belt are still very exquisite, and in addition to the gold products, many jewelry ornaments have been unearthed in Gyeongju's ancient tomb. Seeing a data that said that there are about 200 kofun in Gyeongju, in the early years these kofuns were mixed with residential buildings, the South Korean government spent a lot of effort to relocate and clean up, and now all the kofuns are planted with grass, and the surrounding area has been renovated into a park green space.
Golden crown excavated from kofun (replica)
Compared with the kofun in the Goguryeo World Cultural Heritage Site in Ji'an, China, the kofun in Gyeongju feels that the level of civilization is one level lower, and the difference is huge. There are exquisite murals inside the tomb of the Goguryeo king, and the theme is mostly the Green Dragon White Tiger Suzaku Xuanwu, which is not very different from the ancient tombs in the Central Plains of China from the murals and tomb structure. The only written record of Goguryeo's history, the "Monument to the Good King", is also entirely Chinese, and it is no wonder that Chinese historians insist that Goguryeo is the local government in northeast China. Goguryeo ruins and Zhangjiajie are probably the two most attractive scenic spots in China for Korean tourists, and you can see Korean tourists visiting Goguryeo ruins with one car and one car. However, if Koreans want to find their roots, it is more appropriate to go to Gyeongju.
The Tomb of the General, one of the best preserved tombs of the Goguryeo kings
Gyeongju as a whole is a historic district, and a distinctive feature within the city is the height limit, mostly using Hanok buildings. To the south of Daelingyuan, even ordinary residential houses are mostly in the style of hanok, which is integrated with scattered cultural relics and monuments. There is a Hanok experience area in seongnam, which is a newly built antique building complex for commercial development such as catering, souvenirs, art and humanities. This group of antique buildings is beautifully shaped and fits well for Korean dramas. Next to the experience area is the township school of the Lee Dynasty, our Confucius Temple, which is much larger than what we saw in Jeju Island. Gyeongju city seems to be a relatively modern commercial district with only the railway station, but the maximum height is only three floors.
Gyeongju Township School Daesong Hall
Choi's ancient mansion, a cultural relics Hanok in Gyeongju
Other monuments in the city are mainly ruins. There are few relics left from the Silla period, the most important of which is the 7th-century ZhanXingTai, which is built in the lower circle, a barrel-shaped stone building, which introduces the number of stones used to conceal astronomical astronomy; in addition, there is a remnant stone pagoda at Finnwangsa Temple, which originally had nine floors and now has only three floors. On the surface of a large area is the foundation site, such as The Moon City, this narrow highland in the south of Gyeongju is completely an archaeological site, the historical information is all covered by blue plastic sheets, you can only look at the terrain and the surrounding feng shui, there is an ancient building stone ice cave, but that is also the Li Dynasty period, the era used "after the Chongzhen Era", reflecting the Li Dynasty's emotional belonging to the suzerainty; the Goose Duck Pond has basically completed the archaeological work, the surface marks the location of the Silla period temple pillars, due to the restoration of three buildings, The gardens of Silla East Palace now look very cinematic, with cultural performances at night.
Zhanxingdai, the most important cultural relics in Gyeongju City besides the Kofun Tomb
Stone Ice Cave
"After the Chongzhen Era" was used to record the year
Goose Pond, the site of the Silla Royal Garden, restored three buildings
Namsan is a relatively independent area and an important part of the Gyeongju Historical Site Area. The area of the whole mountain is intuitively larger than the Gyeongju urban area below the mountain, and the mountain is scattered with a series of cultural relics and monuments, with the highest peak being 495 meters. Since Namsan is still part of Gyeongju National Park (the park also includes areas such as Bulgukuni-ji Temple and Tohansan, where the Grotto Temple is located), there are very standardized maps and road signs, and hiking is not difficult, and the natural scenery is good. On my way from the Sanling Valley in the west of Nanshan Mountain, under the Rongchang Valley, the cultural relics on the way are some broken Buddha statues, cliff line carvings, and two stone pagodas of Rongchang Temple. The Unification Hall in the eastern part of Namsan, a monumental building ordered by then-South Korean President Park Chung-hee in the 1970s, houses three of Silla's main leaders during the unification of the Korean Peninsula: King Mujeong, King Moonmu, and General Kim Yoo-shin. There are also several ancient pagodas near the Unification Hall and a pool that was said to have existed during the time of Silla.
The Three Tombs are also ancient tombs of the Silla period, similar to those in Gyeongju Castle
Map of Nanshan Cultural Relics
Line carved Buddha statue
stupa
The portrait of king Silla in the unification hall, King Wulie or King Wenmu can't remember clearly
The only way to see the artifacts is to go to the Gyeongju National Museum, which the guidebook says is one of the best museums in Korea. The main museum details the ancient history of Gyeongju from the Stone Age, and most of the gold jewelry excavated from the kofun is displayed here; the art museum mainly displays Buddha statue sculptures, and you can see the relief replicas of the grotto temple (the grotto temple tourists cannot enter, the Buddha statue can only see the replicas here); the Moon Pond Museum displays the archaeological results of the Moon Pond, that is, the Goose Anduck Pond; the Linguan is currently undergoing a Cultural Exchange Exhibition of Japanese Kofun Tombs, which is very appropriate; there are some Buddha statues on display in the open-air area, as well as two stone pagoda replicas of the Buddha Kingdom Temple. In addition, in the corner of the museum courtyard, you can also see the Silla period casting of the Sungdeok Bell, 4.2 meters high, bronze material, is the largest surviving ancient bell in Korea, legend has it that when the bell was about to be cast, a girl was thrown as a sacrifice, and the bell sounded like "mother" in Korean.
Buddha statues on display in the open-air area
The Bell of St. Mary's
Local details of the Sundeb's Clock
Tips: Tickets 1,000 won for Daelingyuan, 2,000 won for Goose and Duck Pond, 300 or 500 forgotten, Gyeongju Museum free tickets. Buses starting with 5 characters in Gyeongju generally pass through the Three Tombs, and to get to the Unification Hall and Gyeongju Museum, you can take the bus in the direction of Bulguksa Temple. Most of the ruins in the urban area are within walking areas.