Cleansing the body and clearing the mind | Travel Course | K-Travel Mate

Anseong Herb Village is a natural forest space where you can escape the harshness of the city and heal your weary mind and body. The village features a herb theme with herb plants and colorful, vibrant flowers harmoniously blending together, allowing visitors to feel the greenery of the forest. A glamping site is nestled among the cool trees. Upon entering the village, several glamping sites are neatly arranged. The glamping sites operate daily except for the regular holiday on Mondays. They are equipped with barbecue supplies, microwave, gas burner, air conditioner, and refrigerator. Behind the glamping site, restrooms and shower booths are available. The Her’B Cafe, located on the herb village hill, offers a spacious terrace where you can enjoy changing views with each season. The café is loved as a famous spot in Anseong for its specially roasted premium coffee by experts and freshly baked bread daily. Additionally, there is an aromatherapy footbath café where you can enjoy herb tea and footbaths together. Himalayan salt, herbal medicine, and natural aroma oils are added to relieve fatigue from tired feet and body.

Anseong Jukju Fortress is a mountain fortress built during the Three Kingdoms period to control a strategic transportation and military point where a north-south road through the central region and an east-west road connecting to the West Sea intersect, and it was used until the Joseon Dynasty. Jukju Fortress is a triple fortress consisting of the central fortress (main fortress), outer fortress, and inner fortress. Due to its military importance, it was reconstructed at various times, creating its current structure. The earliest-built central fortress stands 6 to 10 meters tall, with a moat dug outside the walls to enhance defense. After advancing northward to the Han River basin, Silla constructed Jukju Fortress in the late 6th century and repaired it several times thereafter. This repeated reconstruction shows the layers of time embodied by Jukju Fortress. The outer fortress was built in the early Goryeo period by adding new walls on the northern side of the Silla fortress to expand its scale. In 1236 (Goryeo King Gojong's 23rd year), General Song Mun-ju (宋文冑), the Jukju Defense Commander, repelled the Mongol army at Jukju Fortress. Reflecting this historical significance, a shrine dedicated to General Song Mun-ju is located within the fortress. During the Imjin War in 1593 (Joseon King Seonjo's 26th year), Hwang Jin (黄進), the 5th-generation descendant of Minister Hwang Hui and Commander of Chungcheong Provincial Army, defeated the Japanese forces stationed at Jukju Fortress. After the Imjin War, to strengthen the fortress's defense, the inner fortress was built at a higher point inside the central fortress, forming the triple fortress configuration. This overlapping fortress structure and the method of wall construction carry important meaning. In the Joseon period, four gates were installed, with one bastion placed at each end of the south wall. The bastions were built with stones sloped at about a 60-degree angle at the base, applying fortress construction techniques used by the Japanese in southern Korea during the Imjin War. Notably, a pavilion for firearms, a new military facility reflecting the development of gunpowder weapons in the Joseon period, was also installed in the central fortress. Additionally, archaeological excavations confirmed six or more Silla water collection facilities arranged in the valley inside Juksan Fortress. To demonstrate the importance of traditional civil engineering and landscaping related to water resources which a fortress must have, these water collection facilities were restored based on their original form.

Seoil Farm is a place that makes cheonggukjang using healthy ingredients carefully grown with our traditional eco-friendly methods. Fermented soybean blocks made from 100% locally grown soybeans, sun-dried salt without impurities, clean water drawn from the farm’s bedrock spring, and onggi pots that naturally regulate humidity and temperature with sunlight and wind all come together to create the unique flavor of their sauces. All products are made by Master Seo Bunrye, the only certified cheonggukjang master in Korea, offering food that captures nature's healthiness authentically. As a farm that makes doenjang, it is clean and well-sunlit. The 30,000-pyeong farm includes fields for planting soybeans and chili peppers, pear orchards, plum groves, a sauce research lab, a fermented clay room, and cold storage facilities. Over 2,000 earthenware jars for fermentation are lined up. Especially, the traditional restaurant Solli lets visitors enjoy the delicious flavors of Seoil Farm, experiencing the old tastes of Korea forgotten for a moment. The menu centers on hearty cheonggukjang and doenjang stew, accompanied by pickled vegetables like deodeok, gajuk, sesame leaves, persimmon, wild chives, seaweed, dried radish, radish, and seaweed salad, along with chili paste and ssamjang for wraps, and fresh vegetables, offering a simple and neat taste of mother’s hand-cooked food. Seoil Farm also offers a slow food experience program by reservation, where visitors can learn the wisdom of ancestors about food through activities such as cooking soybeans in a cauldron, making sauces, tofu, and cheonggukjang, creating and tasting healthy traditional Korean food themselves in a unique hands-on program only at Seoil Farm.

This is a 3.9-meter-tall Bodhisattva statue located near Anseong Boungeopsa site. The body resembles a flat stone pillar without volume, and the overall details are not carved finely. The statue features a tall cylindrical crown topped with a square-shaped bogae (寶蓋; a parasol placed like a hat over the Buddha's head, used for noblemen's outings in India), which is characteristic of early Goryeo dynasty Buddha statues. The bogae later evolved and became a distinctive feature of early Goryeo statues mainly found in Chungcheong Province and southern Gyeonggi Province. The broad, square face has horizontally narrow eyes, a short nose, and a small mouth. The facial details, together with the tall crown, clearly show the stylistic traits of the period. The rounded shoulders are draped with a somewhat thick robe only on the left shoulder, which flows down covering the front of the body. The robe’s U-shaped folds are expressed stair-stepped from the chest and continue forming U-shapes over both legs down to the feet. As befits a Bodhisattva, bracelets adorn both wrists. The right hand is held at the chest with the palm facing outward and fingers slightly bent, while the left hand, back facing outward, rests on the abdomen. With its round crown and bogae head decoration and stone-pillarlike body expression, this statue represents a typical work of large stone Buddhas that flourished during the early Goryeo period centered on Chungcheong and southern Gyeonggi areas. (Source: National Heritage Agency)

죽산리 오층석탑은 고려중기 이전 것으로 추정되며 높이가 6m로 여러 장의 크고 넓적한 돌로 지대석을 만들고 그 위에 단층 기단을 두고 위에 5층 탑신을 올렸다. 석재 결구에서 균형을 잃지 않은 거대한 작품으로 주목되고 있다. 안성시내에는 많은 석탑이 전하고 있으나 그 중에서도 죽산리 5층석탑이 가장 우수하다고 평가받고 있다.

Chiljangsa, located at the foot of Chilhyunsan, is a temple said to have been founded by the monk Jajang in the 5th year of Queen Seondeok of Silla. It was restored in 1014 by monk Hyeso under royal command during the Goryeo era. The names Chiljangsa and Chilhyunsan originate from a legend where Hyeso taught seven evildoers residing there to become wise men. Nestled in the deep Charyeong mountain range, in 1383, the Goryeo dynasty's historical records from Gaechunsa in Chungju were moved to Chiljangsa for eight years to avoid destruction during Japanese pirate invasions. The temple was burned down by pirates again in 1389 and remained in ruins until its reconstruction in 1506 by Heungjeong. In 1623, Queen Inmok made it a dedicated temple in honor of her father Kim Je-nam and son Prince Yeongchang, significantly expanding it. The temple grounds include Daeungjeon, National Treasure No. 296 Obulhoe Gwaebultang, the monument to monk Hyeso, and the iron danggan, among many designated cultural assets. Chiljangsa is also known for folklore such as the archery range where King Gungye practiced until age ten, and the story of the righteous Im Ggeokjeong offering to monk Byeonghaedaesa. There is also a legend that secret royal inspector Park Mun-su prayed and fell asleep at Nahanjeon before his civil service exam, and a Nahan appeared in his dream teaching exam verses, leading to his top ranking, making it a popular place for exam takers to pray for success.