Mireuksa Temple Site and Yugok-ri and Durak-ri Tumuli

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. 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 is where the day begins. Next is Museong-seowon.

2. 2. 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

   Museong-seowon comes up about 58 km into the recorded legs. Next is Yugok-ri and Durak-ri Tumuli.

3. 3. Yugok-ri and Durak-ri Tumuli

   The people of the Gaya confederacy never built an empire, which is why they are overshadowed by the neighbouring kingdoms of Baekje and Silla. But in the fifth and sixth centuries they ran a loose group of small states in the south of the Korean peninsula, famous for iron, and the tumuli in Jangsu, on the high ground of Jeolla province, are evidence that this mountain county had its own ruler. The round grassy mounds of Yugok-ri and Durak-ri sit on ridges and in fields, and iron tools, horse gear and weapons have been dug out of them. They are part of the UNESCO listing for the Gaya Tumuli, added in 2023.

   Read the complete Yugok-ri and Durak-ri Tumuli write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 149 km into the recorded legs you reach Yugok-ri and Durak-ri Tumuli. Next is back through Museong-seowon.

4. 4. back through Museong-seowon

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   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

   back through Museong-seowon, late in the day. Next is Mireuksa Temple Site.

5. 5. 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 at Mireuksa Temple Site. That is the ride.