Tapsa Temple

Between the two rock peaks of Maisan, a hermit named Yi Gap-ryong spent roughly three decades from the late nineteenth century stacking stones into conical towers - collecting rock from the surrounding hills, building them one on another with no mortar, the tallest well over ten metres. Around eighty survive of a reported hundred and more. They have stood through typhoons, which is the thing everyone remarks on and which has attracted engineers as well as pilgrims; the usual explanations are careful balance, a wide base of large stones and the swirling airflow in the valley, and none is fully settled. A small temple grew around them. The two peaks above, whose horse-ear shape gives the mountain its name, are conglomerate riddled with weathering hollows. It is a strange place, more a work of one obsession than an institution, and it is the reason to come to Jinan.

What you actually see

• The stone towers - about eighty, stacked dry, some over ten metres.
• The two peaks - the horse-ear rocks above the valley.
• The small temple - built around the towers later.
• The pitted conglomerate - weathering hollows in the cliffs.

When to go

April to June and October; the cherry avenue up from the north entrance is an April draw and crowded. Winter is cold and the valley icy.

Honest expectations

Ticketed, with a walk from either park gate - the south approach is easier, the north longer and steeper. The temple buildings are modest; the towers are the whole visit. Climbing on them is not allowed.

Nearby

Jinan town is close; Jeonju is about 40 km west.