Poseokjeong Pavilion Site
경주 포석정지
The stone 'winding stream' drinking channel site of the Silla royal family, where wine cups float along the abalone-shaped channel. It is also where King Gyeongae was killed.
Poseokjeong is on the western foot of Namsan and was a detached palace for royal banquets and recreation in Silla. A granite channel about 22 m long, shaped like an abalone, still survives. Nobles sat beside the channel and let wine cups drift along the flowing water. Where a cup stopped, they composed a poem and drank. The custom was in the same tradition as the 'floating wine cups' of the Eastern Jin dynasty's Wang Xizhi. In 927, when Gyeon Hwon of Later Baekje attacked Gyeongju, King Gyeongae was holding a banquet here and was killed. Silla declined soon after. Old trees surround the site, and the autumn red leaves are beautiful. Entry costs about 2,000 won. Getting there: take bus 500 or 506 from the city center to Poseokjeong Station. It can be combined with the Samneung Valley of Namsan.
Opening hours
Roughly 09:00–18:00 (until 17:00 in winter)
Nearby sights
- Namsan Mountain (Samneung Valley)
- Oreung Royal Tombs
- Woljeonggyo Bridge
- Gyochon Hanok Village & Choi Clan House
- Gyerim Forest & Wolseong Palace Site
- Gyeongju National Museum
- Cheomseongdae Observatory
- Hwangnidan-gil