Daeheungsa Temple대흥사

At a glance

Two monks shape the story of Daeheungsa, set deep in the valleys of Duryunsan in Haenam. During the Imjin War of the 1590s, Great Master Seosan made it the headquarters of his monk army, and a memorial hall still keeps his relics, among them a jade bowl given by King Seonjo, his own calligraphy and sutras copied in gold and silver. Later the monk Cho-ui lived alone for some 40 years at Iljiam, a hermitage up the valley, which is why the temple is tied so closely to Korea's tea culture. Tradition credits the Baekje monk Ado with its founding. In 2018 it joined the UNESCO World Heritage List as one of Korea's Buddhist mountain monasteries (Sansa), and Bukmireugam hermitage holds a seated Buddha carved into a rock face, a National Treasure.

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Daeheungsa Temple · 1 tours & tickets

1. GetYourGuidePrivate car charter from GwangjuA private car-and-driver charter from Gwangju. Its 9-hour Haenam route visits Daeheungsa Temple, Ttangkkeut (Land's End) Tower and Songho Beach.Book

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Map

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Tips

• 01
  Stop at the Seosan Daesa relic hall to see the jade bowl from King Seonjo and the sutras written in gold and silver.
• 02
  The temple runs a temple stay program with its own office (061-535-5775) if you'd like to spend a night.