From Safety to History: A Multi-Sensory Travel Course in Iksan

Iksan is a city where you can enjoy everything from smart safety experiences and a thousand-year-old heritage to local gastronomy, peaceful walks in nature, and unique cultural experiences. This course begins at the Iksan Safety Experience Center, which recreates real-world industrial environments, followed by savoring heartwarming traditional market dishes at Jungang Market, and experiencing the breath of Baekje at the Mireuksa Temple Site, a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. You can also unwind in nature at Agape Garden or Guryong Village Bamboo Forest, enjoy a distinctive cultural experience at the Iksan Prison Set, and bring your journey to a calm close amidst the Gothic beauty of Nabawi Catholic Church.

Along the way

1. 1
   KOSHA Iksan Safety Experience Education Center

   한국산업안전보건공단 익산안전체험교육장

   The Iksan Safety Experience Center is an experiential safety education facility designed to allow anyone to easily and engagingly learn the importance of everyday safety through hands-on practice. Utilizing cutting-edge virtual reality (VR) and smart technology, the experiential contents are organized so that visitors can realistically experience various hazards that may occur in daily life and industrial workplaces.MoreLess

   

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2. 2

   Agape Garden

   아가페정원

   Designated as the 4th Private Garden of Jeollabuk-do, Agape Garden is home to 1,416 registered trees across 17 species, including dawn redwoods, Japanese white pines, and weeping laceleaf maples. In 1970, the late Father Seo Jeong-su established the Agape Rest Home, a welfare facility for the elderly, and created a nature-friendly arboretum garden to support a healthy and happy senior life for the residents. To open this well-tended, evergreen forest garden to the public for relaxation and emotional enrichment, it was registered as a private garden in March 2021 and transformed into a public resting space following redevelopment efforts.MoreLess

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3. 3

   Iksan Jungang Market

   익산 중앙시장

   Opened in April 1947 as a permanent market, Jungang Market has stood alongside the citizens of Iksan for decades, serving as a venue for meeting and communication. The first floor sells clothing, hanbok, accessories, and agricultural and marine products, while the second floor is lined with shops offering traditional medicinal herbs, rice cakes, side dishes, butcher services, and restaurants.MoreLess

   

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4. 4

   Mireuksa Temple Site, Iksan [UNESCO World Heritage]

   익산 미륵사지 [유네스코 세계유산]

   The Mireuksa Temple Site features two prominent cultural heritage artifacts that enrich the visitor experience: the Stone Pagoda of Mireuksa Temple Site and the Flagpole Supports of Mireuksa Temple Site. The Stone Pagoda is a National Treasure standing at a height of 14.24 meters, recognized as Korea's oldest and largest stone pagoda. While most of its structure collapsed, leaving only up to the 6th floor on the northeastern corner, it is presumed to have originally had nine stories. Through excavations conducted in 1974–1975 by the Mahan-Baekje Culture Research Institute of Wonkwang University, the eastern pagoda was revealed to have been a stone pagoda rather than a wooden pagoda, confirming the layout was originally a pair of east-west stone pagodas.MoreLess

   

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5. 5

   Guryong Village Bamboo Forest

   구룡마을 대나무 숲

   Spanning an area of approximately 50,000 square meters at the foot of Mireuksan Mountain in Iksan, the Guryong Village Bamboo Forest is the largest bamboo colony south of the Hangang River. The predominant species found here is timber bamboo (madake), with black bamboo and henon bamboo growing along select sections.MoreLess

   

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6. 6
   Iksan Prison Set

   익산교도소세트장

   This is Korea's only film set exclusively dedicated to prison scenes, built on the site of the former Namseong Branch School of Seongdang Elementary School in Wacho-ri, Seongdang-myeon, Iksan. Realistic prison scenes for the movie 'Holiday' were filmed here, and it has served as the filming location for more than 200 films and dramas, including 'Iris,' '4 Legendary Witches,' 'Miracle in Cell No. 7,' and 'Inside Men.'MoreLess

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7. 7

   Nabawi Catholic Church

   나바위 성당

   Nabawi Catholic Church was established to commemorate Father Andrew Kim Dae-geon's landing at Hwangsan Ferry in 1845 (the 11th year of King Heonjong's reign during the Joseon Dynasty) alongside Bishop Ferreol and Father Daveluy after being ordained as a priest in China. Led by the first parish priest, Father Vermorel (Joseph Jang Yak-seul), construction began in 1906 and was completed in 1907.MoreLess

   

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