Magoksa Temple and Museong-seowon

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Magoksa Temple

   Magoksa sits in a fold of Taehwasan mountain in South Chungcheong, a short drive from the old Baekje capital of Gongju, and it is the sort of temple that makes a good argument for getting out of the car. A stream runs beside the approach, maples and zelkova trees close overhead, and the main buildings sit within a double compound, one for monks and one for the Buddha. Its tradition goes back to the seventh century, though most of the present wooden halls are much younger, and its five-storey stone pagoda with a metal finial on top is unusual, since the top part shows Tibetan influence, possibly from the Yuan dynasty.

   Read the complete Magoksa Temple write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Magoksa Temple is where the day begins. Next is Mireuksa Temple Site.

2. 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 72 km in. Next is Museong-seowon.

3. 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

   144 km in you reach Museong-seowon. Next is back through Mireuksa Temple Site.

4. 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 Magoksa Temple.

5. 5. Magoksa Temple

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Magoksa Temple write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Magoksa Temple. That is the ride.