Hwaeomsa Temple

Hwaeomsa is the largest monastery on the southern side of Jirisan and one of the seven UNESCO Sansa. Its treasures are stone. A four-lion three-storey pagoda stands on the terrace above the compound, four seated lions in place of the usual pillars supporting the body, with a figure beneath them; alongside it is a stone lantern carried on a kneeling figure holding a cup. In the courtyard below is one of the largest stone lanterns in the country, well over six metres. The Gakhwangjeon is a great two-storey hall rebuilt in the early eighteenth century after the invasions, and the walls of its predecessor were faced with stone slabs incised with the Avatamsaka Sutra - broken into thousands of fragments when the temple burned, and painstakingly reassembled over decades. An old red plum called Hongmaehwa flowers in March and draws photographers from across the country.

What you actually see

• The four-lion pagoda - on the upper terrace, with its paired lantern.
• The great stone lantern - among the largest in Korea.
• Gakhwangjeon - the two-storey hall of 1703.
• The stone sutra fragments - the reassembled inscribed slabs.

When to go

March for the red plum, April to June, and October. Plum weekends and autumn are crowded; weekday mornings are calm.

Honest expectations

Ticketed as part of the national park, with a shop street before the gate. The four-lion pagoda is a short climb above the compound. It is a working monastery with the usual restrictions.

Nearby

The Jirisan Nogodan trail starts above; the Seomjin river and Gurye are below.