Gentle Low Mountains Making Yeongcheon More Friendly | Travel Course | K-Travel Mate

Yeongcheon Dam, located in Jayang-myeon, Yeongcheon-si, is a multipurpose dam that supplies water to the Pohang Steel Industrial Complex and the agricultural areas in the middle and lower reaches of the Geumho River. It was completed in December 1980. The dam is 42 meters high, with a embankment length of 300 meters, and a total reservoir capacity of 96.4 million tons. Six legal dongs of Jayang-myeon were submerged due to the dam’s construction, and the major submerged public institutions were relocated to Seonggok-ri. Below the dam is Yeongcheon Dam Downstream Park. The park features an auto camping site equipped with washbasins and showers, a children's water play area open in summer, an artificial waterfall, and sports facilities, providing leisure and relaxation. Additionally, the scenic 'Yeongcheon Dam Cherry Blossom Baengri-gil' drive course around the dam is famous. Nearby tourist attractions include Imgo Seowon, Dongin-gak, Yonggye Seowon, and Samhyujeong.

Imgo Seowon is a Confucian academy established in 1553 by local Confucian scholars to honor the virtue and loyalty of Jeong Mong-ju in Gocheon-dong, Imgo-myeon. It was granted the name [Imgo] in 1554, destroyed during the Japanese invasions of 1592–1598, relocated to its current site in 1603, and re-designated the following year. In 1643, Jang Hyeon-gwang was added, and in 1787 Hwang Bo-in was also enshrined, supporting the veneration of sages and local education. It was abolished in 1871, but in 1919 Jonyeonggak was built to enshrine Jeong Mong-ju’s portrait and hold memorial rites. The site includes the Confucian shrine, Jonyeonggak, a lecture hall, posas, and a scholar's room. The shrine Munchungsa houses Jeong Mong-ju's memorial tablet, and Jonyeonggak holds his portrait. The lecture hall features a central wooden floor and side rooms used for events, gatherings of scholars, and academic lectures. The seowon preserves artifacts including three portraits of Jeong Mong-ju; 113 wooden printing blocks of the Poeun Anthology; 71 wooden printing blocks of Jibong Yuseol; the Poeun Collection; 11 volumes of Eosa Seongrigunseo, and over 200 other books.

대구, 경주, 포항, 안동방면으로 통하는 교통의 요충지로서 5일장이 열리는 날이면 시장 내는 물론, 4차선 도로 500m 양편 인도까지 각종 노점상들로 붐빈다. 교통의 요충지라는 이점으로 지금까지 그 규모와 명맥을 유지하고 있는 영천 5일장은 경북일대의 상인들이 모여드는 경상 최대의 농산물 교역시장이다. 대구 약령시장, 안동장과 함께 경상도 3대 시장으로 꼽혀 왔으며, 특히 모든 약초는 전국에서 가장 많이 생산 거래되고 있다. 또한 영천쇠전(우시장)을 수원쇠전 다음으로 알아준다.

At Dolhalmae Park in Bukan-myeon, Yeongcheon, there are mineral springs, a Buddha statue, the Dolhalmae statue, the 12 zodiac statues, and a stone structure enshrining Dolhalmae. Dolhalmae is a granite stone weighing about 10kg and 25cm in diameter used to divine one's fortune by lifting it. If the stone can be lifted with both hands, it means the wish will not be fulfilled; if the stone does not move at all, the wish will come true. In other words, it determines the approval or rejection of a wish. The fascination with the stone is not about its prophetic power but because the stone moves or does not move depending on the person or their wish. The method to lift it is to first try without thinking. This verifies that without sincerity, it lifts easily. Then, after stating one’s birth date, address, age, and name, and speaking their wish or dilemma, whether the stone moves or not indicates acceptance or rejection. For about 350 years, villagers have visited to perform rites whenever fortune or misfortune appeared. They also worship the stone during epidemics or disasters, calling it 'going to pound Dolhalmae.' On every lunar month’s full moon, the village holds a Dongminje ritual.