Jogyesa Temple조계사

About this place

Jogyesa Temple is the head temple of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism and the administrative and spiritual center of Korean Buddhist practice in Seoul. It was founded in 1910 as Gakhwangsa by monks seeking to reassert Korean Buddhist autonomy under Japanese rule, and was the first temple to be established inside the old city walls. Work to move it to the present site began in 1937 under the name Taegosa, and its main hall was built by dismantling and re-erecting a hall from the Bocheongyo religious complex in Jeongeup, finished in October 1938. The temple took its current name in 1954, during the Buddhist purification movement. The temple grounds are home to a 500-year-old white pine (Natural Monument) and a scholar tree, while the main Daeungjeon Hall enshrines a treasured wooden Sakyamuni Trinity. The temple is especially celebrated during Buddha's Birthday, when the surrounding Insadong neighborhood is filled with illuminated lanterns, and it also offers templestay programs for international visitors.

Good to know

Address

55 Ujeongguk-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul

Hours

Always open

Jogyesa states on its own site that the grounds are open 24 hours, so the compound can be entered at any time, and the Korea Tourism Organization lists it as open year-round and free. No body publishes opening times for the halls themselves, however, including Daeungjeon; if you are coming to enter a hall rather than walk the grounds, call the temple office on +82-2-768-8600. Around Buddha's Birthday in the fourth lunar month the Lotus Lantern Festival fills both the compound and the surrounding streets.

Sources

Confirmed 2 October 2026

• jogyesa.kr

Find more photos

Photo spots nearby

• HiKR Ground12 min by transit
• Ikseon-dong Hanok Street13 min by transit
• Cheonggyecheon Stream14 min by transit
• Seoul Metropolitan Library14 min by transit
• Gwanghwamun Square14 min by transit
• National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul14 min by transit