Cheonmachong (Daereungwon)

About this place

Cheonmachong (Tomb of the Heavenly Horse) is a Silla tumulus located within the Daereungwon burial complex in Gyeongju, believed to date from the late 5th to early 6th century. Excavated in 1973, it takes the form characteristic of Silla — a mounded stone-and-wood chamber tomb. The mound stands 12.7 m high and 50 m in diameter; inside, a timber chamber (6.5 m × 4.2 m × 2.1 m) rested on a stone cairn, with a wooden coffin at its centre. Cheonmachong is the only tumulus in the Daereungwon complex open to the public; it served as a trial dig before excavating the far larger Hwangnamdaechong. A total of 11,526 artefacts were recovered, including a gold crown, gold cap, bird-wing crown ornaments, gold belt, and gilt-bronze shoes. The gold crown — the largest and most elaborate yet found — features three branch-shaped uprights at the front and two antler-shaped uprights at the rear, adorned with bud motifs and comma-shaped jade pendants. The tomb takes its name from the Cheonmado (Heavenly Horse painting), a birch-bark mud-guard depicting a flying horse — the first painting ever discovered in a Korean tumulus and a National Treasure of Korea, now displayed at the Gyeongju National Museum.