History Trip in Seongju Blended with Nature | Travel Course | K-Travel Mate

Seongju Hangae Village is a typical clan village where the Seongsan Yi clan has lived for generations. Yi Woo, who served as Jinju Moksa during the reign of King Sejong of Joseon, first migrated here and established the village. Currently, descendants of Wolbong Lee Jeong-hyeon form a clan village and it is a hanok preservation village. To the north of the village, Yeongchwisan (331.7m) extends as left blue dragon and right white tiger, and Baekcheon flows to the southwest, making it the best geomantic site in Yeongnam. It is also known as the birthplace of many famed Confucian scholars, including Lee Jin-sang from the late Joseon period, as well as Eungwa Lee Won-jo. Hangae Village features unique walls offering a distinctive sight. The walls are divided into outer and inner walls. The outer walls are high on the mountain-facing and the side of the house blocks due to most village houses being on slopes, while the walls delineating front and back residential areas are lower. The inner walls are lower than the eaves of houses and visually block or connect the spaces on both sides. Overall, the main mud and stone walls harmonize with traditional hanoks, naturally guiding the village’s flow and blending beautifully into the village scenery.

These are the tombs of the ruling class of Seongsan Gaya located around Seongsan in Seongju-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do. Seongsan Fortress is situated on the summit of Seongsan, with about 70 Gaya tombs distributed nearby. Tomb No. 1 is 3.6m high and 13.6m in diameter, and its internal structure appears to be a front-opening stone chamber tomb (corridor-type stone chamber tomb). Inside the stone chamber, silver crown ornaments, a ring-handled large sword (Hwandudaedo), and various pottery were discovered. Tomb No. 2 is a pit-type stone chamber tomb (shaft-type stone chamber tomb), where many pottery items were found alongside spears, axes, and pouch knives. In the cave chamber of Tomb No. 58, a gold ring earring (gold ring-shaped pendants), silver bracelets, and gilt-bronze horse ornaments (leaf-shaped) were discovered. The footed plates (gobae) found in each tomb show holes (shooting holes) in their feet, and the crown ornament excavated from Tomb No. 1 resembles those from the Gyeongju area. Additionally, artifacts from Tomb No. 58 are typical Silla products, and these tombs are estimated to belong to the ruling class of Seongsan Gaya around the 5th–6th centuries. These artifacts serve as important evidence that Seongsan Gaya had a close relationship with Silla but culturally did not exchange with the neighboring Daegaya, which was hostile to Silla at that time. (Source: National Heritage Agency)

Seongju Sejong Daewangja Taesil is located on the summit of Taebong (胎峰) below Seonseoksan in Wolhang-myeon, Seongju-gun. It contains a cluster of 19 royal placenta chambers, including those for 18 legitimate and illegitimate sons of Sejong and Crown Prince Danjong. A taesil is a place where the placenta of royal princes or princesses was kept. Among the 19 chambers, 14 retain their original form, but those of five princes who opposed King Sejo's usurpation have had their stone artifacts destroyed except for the square lotus petal-engraved base stone. In the case of King Sejo’s taesil, a special stele called Gabongbi (加封碑) was erected in front of the taesil stele after his ascension. Created between 1438 and 1442 (the 20th to 24th year of King Sejong’s reign), Taebong originally held the tomb of Lee Janggyeong, the founder of the Seongju Lee clan, but the royal family relocated it to use the site for the taesil. In 1977, artifacts such as a buncheong inhwa-mun bowl and lid, a flat-bottom jar, and commemorative stones were discovered during restoration. Sejong Daewangja Taesil is the only site in Korea where a complete cluster of royal prince placenta chambers exists and is an important heritage showing the change in royal taesil construction from Goryeo to Joseon. (Source: National Heritage Agency)

Gayasang Wildflower Botanical Garden is the first county-operated botanical garden in Korea, created by Seongju-gun, specializing in wildflowers. It opened on June 16, 2006. With over 660 species of trees and wildflowers planted, it serves as a cultural space for wildflower resource conservation, nature learning, academic research development, and protection of Gayasan native plants. It consists of exhibition halls such as Gayasan Vegetation Map, Tri-Vision, Insect Exhibition Hall, and Dry Flower, and also has outdoor exhibition gardens and a greenhouse.