Visiting historic sites of Goryeo and Joseon | Travel Course | K-Travel Mate

Jindo Tower is located at the summit of Manggeumsan near Jindo Bridge. Since the opening of Jindo Bridge in 1984, Jindo became the southernmost region of the Korean Peninsula and an international tourist attraction visited by about 2.6 million people annually, including foreigners. Jindo Tower is a symbol created to inherit the excellent patriotic spirit of our ancestors and Jindo residents, who helped Admiral Yi Sun-sin achieve victory in the Battle of Myeongnyang 416 years ago. The cafeteria and restaurant provide convenience for tourists, who can also enjoy the beautiful surrounding scenery. It serves as a landmark of Jindo tourism, instilling pride in residents and offering sightseeing attractions for visitors to Jindo.

The Yi Chungmugong Byeokpajin War Victory Monument, located above Byeokpajeong, commemorates the miraculous and decisive victory at the Battle of Myeongnyang during the Japanese invasions of Korea (Jeongyujaeran) by Admiral Yi Chungmugong, and records the Jindo-born soldiers who sacrificed their lives in the battle. The inscription was written by poet Lee Eun-sang and the calligraphy by Jindo-born calligrapher Sojeon Son Jae-hyung. Byeokpajin was a port connecting Jindo-gun and Haenam-gun, near Uldolmok, the nearest strait linking Jindo-gun with the mainland. Although the fast tidal currents made navigation difficult, it was the most used port for traveling between Jindo-gun and Haenam-gun until the completion of the Jindo Bridge in 1984. This place served as the gateway between Jindo and Jeju Island, and all passenger ships passing nearby called here, but now it remains as a small fishing port. Despite its decline as a port, this location is historically important as the site of Byeokpajeong and the Yi Chungmugong Byeokpajin War Victory Monument.

Jindo's Yongjang Fortress is a representative anti-Mongol facility established by the Sambyeolcho in Jindo. The mountain fortress is located on a ridge along the northern coast of Jindo, where Byeokpajin, the gateway to Jindo, lies. This area also serves as a checkpoint on the sea route linking to Uldolmok. Led by Bae Jungson, the Sambyeolcho supported royal family member Seunghwahu Wang-on as the new king, formed a government, and appointed officials in opposition to the pro-Mongol Goryeo court. They arrived at Byeokpajin with about 1,000 ships carrying goods and people, settled in Yongjang Fortress, rebuilt the fortress, made Yongjangsa Temple inside the fortress their palace, constructed various buildings, and proclaimed their king as emperor. A comprehensive site survey conducted from 2009 to 2010 revealed over 20 buildings arranged in a sophisticated layout reminiscent of Gaegyeong's Manwoldae, suggesting the palace was planned. Most of the original fortress has disappeared; however, the site remains partially preserved, including Yongjangsa Temple ruins and the palace site. Nearby are the Yongjang Fortress Exhibition Hall, the Goryeo Anti-Mongol Memorial Tower, and Jeongchungsa Shrine dedicated to Bae Jungson, making it possible to visit them together.

At this restaurant, the main dishes are fresh and plump skate and clams caught at Cheongryong in Seocheon, Jindo, Jeonnam, prepared as sashimi and mixed with fragrant water parsley to make skate salad and clam salad. The salads are seasoned with plenty of water parsley, sweet and sour flavors, without any fishy smell, and the meat texture is light. The secret to the taste is the house vinegar, which makes the fish meat firm. Rich in protein, vitamins, and minerals, these dishes are good for health. Above all, they make excellent anju (side dishes for drinking). Additionally, dishes like grilled gizzard shad sashimi or seasonal rice field snail sashimi, served alongside the restaurant's proud skate soup, are clean-tasting and popular.

Located on Cheomchalsan in Jindo-gun, this temple was founded by Doseon Guksa during the Silla era and named Ssanggyesa because a valley flows on both sides of the temple. Ssanggyesa is a subsidiary temple of Daeheungsa, the main temple of the 22nd district of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism. The establishment date of Ssanggyesa's Daeungjeon was confirmed as 1697 through an inscription found during the 1982 restoration. Upon entering the temple through the iljumun gate, visitors pass ginkgo tree-lined paths and stone walls. Main buildings are built on stone terraces at the foot of Cheomchalsan, following late Joseon architectural style. A 10-minute hike behind the temple leads to an evergreen forest with over 50 species designated as a natural monument. Ssanggyesa is Jindo's oldest temple, valued culturally and environmentally preserved, serving as an excellent resting place. Cheomchalsan mountain, where Ssanggyesa is located, is also a sightseeing highlight. Nearby Unrimsanbang is part of the Seohaerang Trail Jindo Course 8.

Amongrepresentative seohwa (calligraphy and painting) artists in Jindo, where seohwa arts developed, Sochi Heo Ryeon (小痴 許鍊) is known as a master of late Joseon period Southern painting. He is also known as Heoyu, named after Wang Yu, a pioneer of Tang and Southern Song ink wash landscape painting. Unlimsanbang was the studio name where Heo Ryeon spent his later years after leaving Seoul and returning to his hometown to live and paint. It is located south of Jindo-eup, near Cheomchalsan West and Ssanggyesa. The site includes a 'ㄷ'-shaped tiled house called Unlimsanbang, a thatched-roof living quarters behind it, and newly built memorial halls. A white lotus blooms in the pentagonal pond in front of Unlimsanbang, and a crape myrtle tree grows on a 6-meter diameter circular island in the pond. Sochi Heo Ryeon was born in 1809 in Ssangjeong-ri, Jindo-eup, showing talent in painting from a young age. From age 28, he was taught by the monk Cho-ui at Daedunsa Iljiam in Haenam and, in his early 30s, went to Seoul through an introduction to study calligraphy and painting under Chusa Kim Jeonghui, becoming a master of Southern painting. Although he painted for the royal family and held several official posts, he left Seoul after Kim Jeonghui's death, returned to his hometown Jindo, established Unlimsanbang, and devoted himself to painting. Unlimsanbang was neglected for a long time until it was restored in 1982 by Heo Geon. Inside the studio, reproductions of paintings by three generations of the Heo family are displayed, and the newly built Sochi Memorial Hall exhibits works of three generations of Unlimsanbang artists, as well as stones and ceramics. It is a Jeollanam-do monument. The name Unlimsanbang derives from the deep mountain valley surrounded by numerous peaks around Cheomchalsan, where morning and evening mists form a cloud forest.