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Sangju Heungam Seowon was established to commemorate the scholarship and virtues of Song Jun-gil (1606–1672). Song Jun-gil is one of the eighteen scholars honored in the Munmyo Shrine and a scholar who continued the Giho academic lineage of Yi I, Kim Jang-saeng, and Kim Jip. In the late Joseon period, the Westerners and Noron factions in the Sangju area of Gyeongsangbuk-do, who succeeded the Giho academic tradition, gathered around Heungam Seowon. In 1702, Heungam Seowon was built in Sangju to perform rites for Song Jun-gil, and in 1705 it was granted the name 'Heungam' by royal decree. It became the first royal-decreed Westerners and Noron faction seowon established in Yeongnam and received a calligraphic royal plaque. In response, disciples such as Seong Ihong and Chae Jeonghyu erected a stele with inscriptions. Even during Heungseon Daewongun's order to abolish seowon, Sangju Heungam Seowon was not closed. Later, it was used as a modern school, leading to the founding of Sangju High School and Namsan Middle School, but it has since been relocated. In 2005, it was restored as part of a Confucian cultural area development project. The buildings at Heungam Seowon include Heungamsa, Jinsudang, Jin-ui-jae, Ui-in-jae, Eopilbi-gak, and Naesammun. Heungamsa is a shrine hall where memorial ceremonies are held and where Song Jun-gil's spirit tablet is enshrined. Jin-ui-jae on the east and Ui-in-jae on the west were dormitories for students.

Sangnaksa is a branch temple of Jikji-sa, the head temple of the 8th district of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, located in the city center, making it easily accessible for worshippers. It was founded in 1921 by Monk Seolhong as a Buddhist missionary center in Sangju and has greatly contributed to the revival and spread of Buddhism in the Sangju region. The temple, originally a missionary center, changed its name to Sangnaksa (常樂寺) in 2002.

Sangju Imranbukcheon Battle Site is a patriotic sacred place where about 900 central and local troops of Joseon died defending against the main force of the Japanese army during the Imjin War. In 1592, when the Japanese landed at Busan, about 60 central troops of Joseon moved south to stop them. Together with Sangju magistrates Kwon Gil and Park Geol who assembled about 800 local men overnight, around 900 fought fiercely against 17,000 Japanese soldiers and all perished. To honor their patriotism, Chungnyeolsa Shrine was built, enshrining memorial tablets of the fallen including Yun Seom, Kwon Gil, Kim Jong-mu, Lee Gyeong-ryu, Park Ho, Kim Jun-shin, Kim Il, Park Geol, and an unknown martyr. Originally, only a commemorative monument (Sabi) recorded this in Sangju, but in 1990 a shrine and exhibition hall were established, relocating former Sangju government buildings to develop the site as a park. The site includes Taepyeongnu, the gate tower of Sangju Dongheon, Sangsan-gwan, a government guesthouse used by royal envoys, and Chimcheonjeong, a pavilion built in 1577 (10th year of Seonjo) outside Sangju fortress's south gate by magistrate Jeong Gonsu, used for scholars' rest and writing. Every year on June 4th (solar calendar), memorial rites are held to honor their spirits, and the site serves as a living history education center for future generations.