The Oldest Astronomical Observatory in East Asia & Royal Tombs!!!

After Anapji pond we strolled down to the Oldest Astronomical Observatory in East Asia, Cheomseongdea. It kinda looks like the rook piece of a Chess game, but was made with much thought and care back in the day! The 12 stones at it's base symbolize the 12 months of the year, and there are 30 layers from top to bottom representing the 30 days in a month, and in all there are 366 stone blocks used, this corresponded to the amount of days in a "shill year"... Amazing.... Apparently it still frames some constellations but you can't climb up there anymore!

After that we checked out tomb park. In it was many larger grass covered tombs that strangely resemble the hill in French Park behind Mark Matwiy's house?!?

If you look closely you can see them in the background of 2 of the pictures above. They're everywhere in this small city, sometimes they even have them smack dab in the middle of downtown, flanked by modern shops and tall office buildings.

Alissa and I got to see inside one of the Ancient Tombs in Tomb Park... Everything from the creamated remains, to the large golden crowns made of 90 % gold were on display just as the excavators found them... cool stuff!