Cheomseongdae ObservatoryThe Gyeongju Historic Areas contain a remarkable concentration of outstanding examples of Korean Buddhist art in the of temples, sculptures, pagodas and palaces of unique artistic expression. Gyeongju, a city and prominent tourist destination in southeastern Korea, has inherited traces of the glory that flowered and withered in ancient Silla (57 B.C. - A.D. 935).
As Sillas capital for almost a thousand years, Gyeongju preserves a vast amount of historical heritages. The Gyeongju Historic Areas have been designated as a World Heritage site by UNESCO, along with Bulguksa Temple and Seokguram Grotto. The Gyeongju region has long been a major tourist destination in Korea.
There are three major belts that make up the Gyeongju Historic Areas: Namsan Mountain Belt, Wolseong Palace Belt and Royal Tomb Belt.
Namsan Mountain Belt, lying to the north of Gyeongju City, covers 2,650 hectares. Buddhist monuments that have been excavated up to now include the ruins of 122 temples, 53 stone statues, 64 pagodas and 16 stone lanterns.
Wolseong Palace Belts main monuments are a ruined palace site, Anapji Pond, Cheomseongdae Observatory and many others.
Royal Tomb Belts excavations have produced rich grave artifacts of gold, glass and fine ceramics. Most of the mounds there are domed, but some take the of a half-moon or a gourd. They contain double wooden coffins covered with gravel.
Poseokjeong Pavillion in the Namsan Mountain Belt is the place where the Silla Kings along with their officials and nobles floated their wine glasses on the water, according to historians. When the water flew along the stone groove, they recited poems before their glasses floated up to them.
Poseokjeong PavillionPoseokjeong is built of 63 kinds of rock materials. It is 35 centimeters wide, 26 centimeters deep on average, and the total length is about 10 meters. It is said that water from a local mountain was brought to Poseokjeong, and was spewed out through a stone turtle, but the stone turtle does not remain today.
Poseokjeong was designated as private monument No.1 in 1963. The location is originally where the royal villa of the ancient Silla had been, but the building no longer exists, and only a stone waterway shaped as a shell is left in its place. Poseok valley, placed next to Poseokjeong, was also much loved by the Silla people for its clean water and beautiful features.
Cheomseongdae Observatory in the Wolseong Palace Belt is the oldest existing astronomical observatory in Asia.
Constructed from 632 to 647, it was used for observing the stars in order to forecast the weather. The stone observatory is a beautiful combination of straight lines and curves, and was designated as National Treasure No.31 in 1962.
Cheomseongdae was built in a cylinder shape with stones. As many as 362 stones were piled up to make 27 levels. There is a square entrance and a space to hang a ladder, about 4 meters up from the ground.
The inside is filled with soil up to the 12th level, and the 19th, 20th, 25th, and 26th levels all have long rocks hanging on two areas, shaped like the Chinese letter 井.
It stands over nine meters tall and the base stone on each side measures 5.35 meters. The four equinoxes, the two solstices and the 24 solar terms (also known as the astronomical solar year) were determined by the observation of stars. The pavilion stone is believed to have been used as a standard of deciding directions. The 362 stones used to build Cheomseongdae represented the 362 days in a lunar year.
