Gyeongju Najeong (Sacred Well)

About this place

This is the well said to be the birthplace of Bak Hyeokgeose, the founding ancestor of Silla. Remaining features include a stele commemorating the legendary site, the presumed ruins of a royal shrine in the form of an octagonal building complex, a well site, enclosing wall remains, subsidiary building remains, and drainage channels. The octagonal structure, with each side measuring 8 m and surrounded by a rectangular wall, is believed to be the Silla royal shrine (Singung), suggesting Najeong served as a sacred space where sacrificial rites were offered to Bak Hyeokgeose. Historical texts record that the village elders of the six founding clans gathered here, and while looking down from a high place, they saw a strange aura near a well called Najeong beneath Yangsan hill, where a white horse was kneeling. When they approached, the horse flew to the sky and only a large red egg remained; cracking it open, they found a boy. When bathed in the Dongcheon stream, his body radiated light and birds and beasts danced joyfully. Because he was born from an egg shaped like a gourd (朴), his surname was given as Bak, and he was named Hyeokgeose (meaning 'one who brightens the world'). In 57 BCE, at age thirteen, he ascended the throne and founded the kingdom he called Seorabeol.