Uncover centuries of history in Korea’s ancient capital
With grassy royal tombs, quiet lanes and forested temple grounds, Gyeongju invites you to experience Korea’s history at a gentler pace.
Gyeongju earns its nickname, the 'museum without walls', because history here was never tidied away behind fences – it simply sits in the middle of everyday streets. As capital of the Silla kingdom from 57 BC until AD 935, nearly a thousand years during which it became one of the most sophisticated cities in East Asia, the city has more history layered into it than almost anywhere else in the country.
We love how much of that history you can walk straight into. Bulguksa Temple and Seokguram Grotto were together inscribed as a single UNESCO World Heritage property in 1995, and the wider Gyeongju Historic Areas received their own UNESCO listing in 2000 – a reflection of just how much survives, quite literally, beneath the city's parks and hillsides.
Bulguksa itself, completed in 774 under the Silla prime minister Kim Dae-seong, remains one of the finest examples of Buddhist architecture in the country, while Seokguram Grotto nearby houses a granite Buddha carved with a level of craftsmanship that still draws scholars and visitors alike.
For something altogether more otherworldly, Daereungwon's tomb mounds are hard to miss. Cheonmachong, the 'sky horse tomb', was excavated in 1973 and yielded more than 11,500 artefacts, including a gold crown and a birch-bark saddle flap painted with a flying, eight-legged horse – one of the few surviving examples of Silla painting.
Gyeongju is easy to reach too, with the KTX connecting Seoul to Singyeongju station in around two hours, making it a straightforward addition to any itinerary built around Seoul or Busan.
Get in touch with our South Korea team today to start planning your perfect Gyeongju itinerary.
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Sophie
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