Jaemaejeong Well, Gyeongju

Basic information

Designation

Historic Site No.246

Category

Architecture

Era

삼국시대

Designated year

1976

Location

경주시, 경상북도— 경북 경주시 교동 89-7번지

Coordinates

35.828911, 129.212954

This well stood in the front yard of the house of Kim Yu-sin, a leading general of Silla. It was built with granite stone bricks. It is believed that the household of General Kim was in the vicinity. There is a famous anecdote concerning General Kim and this well. After a long stay away from home during wartime, the general had a chance to pass his hometown. However, without even getting off his horse to enter his house or meet his family, General Kim ordered a subject to draw him some water from the well in his yard. After drinking this water on horseback, he said, "The taste of our household water is the same as ever", and rode off to the battlefield again. In an investigation in 1993, an area covering 79m in all directions from Jaemaejeong was excavated. The depth of the well is 570m, and the widest part is 180cm. across. The bottom of the well is made of stone polished like bricks, and its diameter is 120 cm. In the monument house beside the well there is a stele with an epigraph written by Yi Man-un in the 9th year of the reign of King Gojong (1872) of the Joseon Dynasty.

Location