Bulguksa Temple
불국사
Treat Bulguksa and Seokguram as separate stops with their own travel time; the temple grounds reward a slower look at gates, bridges, halls, and pagodas.
Language
Place information
- Korean name
- 불국사
- Address
- 385 Bulguk-ro, Gyeongju-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do
- Getting there
- Bus Bus 10 / 11 · Bulguksa stop (the route's turning point, ID 01-161, Bus 10 and 11)
- Opening hours
- Mar–Sep 09:00 (last entry 18:00) Feb, Oct 09:00 (last entry 17:30) Jan, Nov–Dec 09:00 (last entry 17:00)
- Closed
- Open year-round
- Hours notes
- Bulguksa states no separate closing time. Pets are not admitted.
- Time needed
- 2 hours
- Admission
- Free
Prices
| Admission | FreeFree since 4 May 2023 under the revised Cultural Heritage Protection Act; notices quoting 6,000 KRW predate it. |
|---|---|
| Parking — cars and mid-size vehicles | ₩2,000The operator lists cars under 1,000cc and vehicles over 1,000cc at the same rate. |
| Parking — large vehicles (buses) | ₩4,000 |
Source: Bulguksa — visiting hours and admission ·
What to see
Iljumun Gate
The first gate into the temple. The name comes from its two pillars set in a single line beneath the roof. It does not stand on its original site — it was moved here during the 1973 restoration for ease of approach.
Cheongungyo and Baegungyo
National Treasure 23. The stairway-bridge to Jahamun and Daeungjeon beyond it: eighteen steps of Baegungyo below, sixteen of Cheongungyo above, thirty-four in all. The arch beneath it is the earliest of its kind in Korea. Dated to 751.
Yeonhwagyo and Chilbogyo
National Treasure 22. The stairway-bridge to Anyangmun and Geungnakjeon: ten steps of Yeonhwagyo below, eight of Chilbogyo above. Lotus petals are carved into each of Yeonhwagyo's steps; centuries of feet have worn them faint, and the bridge is now closed to visitors.
Jahamun Gate
The inner gate to Daeungjeon. Climb Cheongungyo and Baegungyo and the Buddha's realm opens from here. Burned in 1593, rebuilt in 1628 and substantially repaired in 1966.
Anyangmun Gate
The inner gate to Geungnakjeon, hall of Amitabha. Climb Yeonhwagyo and Chilbogyo and the Pure Land opens from here. 'Anyang' means paradise.
Daeungjeon
Treasure 1744. The main hall, five bays by five on a Unified Silla stone platform. The present building dates from its 1765 rebuilding, and both the rebuilding record and the record of its painting survive with it.
Dabotap Pagoda
National Treasure 20. The 10.29 m pagoda on the east side of the courtyard, and the one whose storeys cannot be counted: a cruciform base with stairs on all four sides, an octagonal body, a square balustrade around it. Three of the four stone lions on its base were taken during the colonial period and have never been traced.
Seokgatap Pagoda
National Treasure 21. Its twin across the courtyard, 10.75 m, properly named Seokgayeoraesangjuseolbeoptap. A reliquary chamber found in its second storey during 1966 repairs held the Great Dharani Sutra (National Treasure 126), the oldest woodblock print in the world.
Museoljeon
The lecture hall. Uisang gave the first lecture here on his return from China in 670. Burned in 1593, rebuilt twice, left in ruins, and raised again to its old thirty-two-bay size on the original platform in 1973.
Geungnakjeon
The hall of Amitabha, built with six bays around 750, burned in 1593 and rebuilt in 1750. The stair from here up to Daeungjeon runs sixteen steps in three ranks — forty-eight in all, for Amitabha's forty-eight vows.
Gilt-bronze Seated Amitabha
National Treasure 27. The 1.77 m Buddha in Geungnakjeon, cast in the mid-eighth century. It is thought to have had a mandorla originally.
Birojeon
The hall of Vairocana, built with eighteen bays around 751, burned in 1593 and rebuilt in 1660. The present hall was raised in 1973 on the Silla platform and plinths.
Gilt-bronze Seated Vairocana
National Treasure 26. The 1.77 m Buddha in Birojeon. Its hands are the reverse of the usual Vairocana gesture — the left closes over the right index finger. With the Amitabha here and the Baeknyulsa Bhaisajyaguru it is counted one of the three great gilt-bronze Buddhas of Unified Silla.
Gwaneumjeon
The hall of Avalokitesvara, in an early-Joseon style of about 1400. A sandalwood image made in 922 survived the fires of the Imjin War here; when and how it disappeared is not known.
Nahanjeon
The hall of the sixteen arhats. Burned in 1593; the images were made and the hall raised in 1647, and it was moved to its present site in the rebuilding of 1760.
Beomyeongnu
A pavilion raised when Kim Daeseong rebuilt the temple around 750; the present three-storey building was reconstructed to its old form in 1973. Its first name was Sumibeomjonggak — an octagonal Mount Sumeru summit built to seat 108.
Bulguksa Museum
On the rise to the right of Cheonwangmun. It holds the reliquary set (National Treasure 126) found during the 1966 repair of Seokgatap, roof tiles and craftwork from Unified Silla through Joseon, and the Great Dharani Sutra itself.
Iljumun Gate selected
Nearby
Seokguram Grotto
A separate journey from Bulguksa with its own travel time, not an annexe of it. Admission has been free since 4 May 2023, and the published times are last-admission times rather than closing times.
Godoveol Hanjeongsik
A hanjeongsik house in Bomun-dong, laid out across two hanok buildings and set with seasonal ingredients.
Gyeongju National Museum
The national museum of Silla. Four of the six gold crowns excavated from the tombs in central Gyeongju are administered here, as is the Divine Bell of King Seongdeok. After Daereungwon and Cheomseongdae — the tombs and the sky — it is the natural place to come and see what was inside the tombs.
Donggung Palace and Wolji Pond
The best-known night view in Gyeongju, and the only one of the central sites that charges. The city warns that arriving near the 21:30 ticket cut-off may not get you in.
Frequently asked questions
Why do other sites say it costs 6,000 won?
Because they are out of date. Gyeongju City's fee table still lists the pre-2023 temple charge, and that table itself notes that temple admission prices and times may change and should be reconfirmed. The temples' own pages are the authority.
Can I see Bulguksa and Seokguram in one visit?
In one day, comfortably. In one stop, no — Seokguram is up Tohamsan, reached by shuttle bus or a climb, and it has its own last admission on the same seasonal schedule.
What should I look for at Bulguksa?
The Cheongun-gyo and Baegun-gyo bridge-stairs at the entrance, and the two pagodas in the main courtyard: the ornate Dabotap and the plain, precisely proportioned Seokgatap.
Stories about this place
- Gyeongju, Day Two: Bulguksa and Seokguram by Bus
If the first day was walked, the second is ridden. Bus 10 covers the 35–45 minutes from the terminal to Bulguksa, and Bus 12 climbs Tohamsan from there. What orders the day is not a closing time — it is the bus back down from Seokguram, which leaves on the hour.
- Bulguksa and Seokguram: How to Check Admission and Opening Hours
Gyeongju's official admission table gives a figure for every attraction. Tongiljeon and Bunhwangsa are written in as 'free'. But the Bulguksa and Seokguram cells carry no figure at all — only a 'see details' link, and that link leaves for an unencrypted address.
Nearby Food
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Where these facts come from
- Bulguksa — visiting hours and admission ·
- Bulguksa — the halls ·
- Bulguksa — the national treasures ·
- Gyeongju Culture and Tourism — admission ·
- Korea Tourism Organization — Bulguksa ·
- Gyeongju Culture and Tourism — the 「Bus 10 버스타GO」 route guide. It gives Bus 10's first departure at 06:00 and last at 21:40 from the express/intercity bus terminal, a headway of about 20 minutes, and 35–45 minutes from the terminal to Bulguksa, the turning point, when the bus does not stop in between. For each attraction it publishes the name of the stop to get off at, the stop's ID and the walk from it. Bus 11 runs the same route in the opposite direction, and Bus 10-1 turns back at Gyeongju World rather than reaching Bulguksa. A city bus fare is 1,300 won for an adult, 1,000 for a youth and 700 for a child, 50 won less with a transit card; one transfer is allowed within 30 minutes of alighting and only onto a different route. ·