Why this ride
A 240 km round trip from Gongju - roughly 3 h 47 in the saddle. On the way it passes Mireuksa Temple Site, Museong-seowon and back through Mireuksa Temple Site. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Baekje Historic Areas and Museong-seowon
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 240 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 47
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Baekje Historic Areas
Gongju is where the kingdom of Baekje retreated when it was almost destroyed. In 475 the armies of Goguryeo, the northern rival, swept south and took the capital at Hanseong, near modern Seoul, killing the king, and the survivors moved the court to Ungjin, as Gongju was then called, a defensible site on the Geum river with a fortress on the hill above. For about sixty years it served as the capital, until the court moved further south to Sabi, now Buyeo, in 538. The UNESCO listing of Baekje Historic Areas, in 2015, covers Gongju, Buyeo and Iksan.
Read the complete Baekje Historic Areas write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Baekje Historic Areas is where the day begins. Next is Mireuksa Temple Site.
2. Mireuksa Temple Site
On a wide plain near Iksan, in the south-west of Korea, a large stone pagoda stands beneath a mountain, slightly incomplete and all the more striking for it. This is the west pagoda of Mireuksa, once the largest Buddhist temple of the Baekje kingdom, founded in the early seventh century by King Mu. The pagoda is the oldest and largest surviving stone pagoda in Korea, and after decades of collapse and a cement repair in the early twentieth century, it was carefully dismantled and restored in a project that took around twenty years, finishing in 2019. The temple site is part of the Baekje Historic Areas, listed by UNESCO in 2015.
Read the complete Mireuksa Temple Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Mireuksa Temple Site comes up 65 km in. Next is Museong-seowon.
3. Museong-seowon
Just outside Jeongeup, in a village of low houses and persimmon trees, stands Museong-seowon, a Confucian academy that has served its community for centuries. It honours Choe Chi-won, the great ninth-century scholar of the Silla kingdom who served as magistrate in this area and whose poems and essays made him one of Korea's most celebrated writers. Seowon were private academies where young men studied the Confucian classics and the memory of revered scholars was honoured with rites, and Museong is one of nine inscribed together by UNESCO in 2019.
Read the complete Museong-seowon write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
131 km in you reach Museong-seowon. Next is back through Mireuksa Temple Site.
4. back through Mireuksa Temple Site
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Mireuksa Temple Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Mireuksa Temple Site, late in the day. Next is Baekje Historic Areas.
5. Baekje Historic Areas
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Baekje Historic Areas write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Baekje Historic Areas. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Baekje Historic Areas to Mireuksa Temple Site
Baekje Historic Areas → Mireuksa Temple Site is 69 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Mireuksa Temple Site to Museong-seowon
Mireuksa Temple Site → Museong-seowon is 62 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Museong-seowon to back through Mireuksa Temple Site
Museong-seowon → back through Mireuksa Temple Site is 62 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Mireuksa Temple Site to Baekje Historic Areas
back through Mireuksa Temple Site → Baekje Historic Areas is 69 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.