If you play Civilization VI, you know what a Seowon is: the Korean variant of the blue Campus District. A Seowon generates a lot of science, is cheap to build, and can give Korea a head-start in the science race.

In the real world, Seowons were Neo-Confucian academies established during the Joseon period. They served two central purposes: as shrines for ancestor worship and as academies for young nobles preparing for the civil servant examination.

The nine Seowons that form the WHS are scattered across Korea. We visited two: Oksan (part of the Yangdong Folk Village WHS) and Pilam. Of the two, Pilam was the better site. It's larger and better preserved. We felt transported back in time, imagining students listening to their instructor in the lecture hall. A word of advice: mind your head as the gatehouse has very low beams. Oksan, meanwhile, is undergoing major renovations (2024), making it hard to appreciate. It felt a bit small and didn't give the same "transported back in time" effect.

You'll encounter many more non-inscribed Seowons in Korea. Gyeongju has one, and there's another attached to the Yangdong Folk Village.

Getting There

• Pilam: Reachable by bus from Gwangju, followed by some walking or a rural bus/cab. We took a cab from the Gochang Dolmen Site.
• Oksan: Connected by direct bus from Gyeongju. The bus also stops at Yangdong Folk Village and runs roughly hourly.