Holiday in Gyeongju

About Gyeongju

Gyeongju in the southeast of South Korea is often referred to as the 'museum without walls' — and this is no exaggeration. The former capital of the Silla Kingdom (57 BC – 935 AD) preserves traces of a thousand-year civilization at every turn: burial mounds in the city center, temple ruins among forests, gilded Buddha statues in rock niches, and pagodas that have withstood the test of time since the 7th century. The heart of the city is Tumuli Park, a field of over 20 large burial mounds that rise like green hemispheres from the flat plain. Inside the opened Cheonmachong tomb, the golden grave goods of the Silla kings can be admired — a splendor reminiscent of Egyptian pharaohs. The nearby Gyeongju National Museum houses the famous golden crown of the Silla dynasty, a masterpiece of ancient goldsmithing. The Bulguksa Temple and the Seokguram Grotto, both UNESCO World Heritage Sites, are the spiritual highlights: The temple impresses with its harmonious architecture and the famous stone bridge Cheongungyo, while the rock-hewn Seokguram Grotto contains a majestic seated Buddha statue overlooking the Sea of Japan — one of the greatest Buddhist masterpieces in Asia. But Gyeongju is more than an open-air museum: In spring, the fields around the burial mounds transform into a sea of cherry blossoms, and Bomun Lake becomes a romantic picnic paradise. In autumn, the forests around Namsan Mountain bathe the hundreds of Buddha reliefs and pagodas scattered there in golden foliage. And in the evening, the charming city center with its traditional restaurants and cozy Hanok cafés invites you to linger.