Cheongnara Hill 청라언덕
Daegu · Jung-gu Old Downtown · Sights
This small green knoll behind Dongsan Medical Center is where American missionaries lived a century ago while introducing modern medicine and schooling to Daegu. Three red-brick houses survive, thickly wrapped in ivy, which gives the hill its name (Cheongnara means green ivy). The path is also linked to the Korean art song Thinking of a Friend, whose first lines mention this very spot, and you may hear it played from speakers.
The houses hold small exhibitions on early medicine and missionary life, though opening days vary. A set of steep stone stairs, the 90 Steps, leads down toward Gyesan Cathedral and begins the modern-alley walking tour.
Subway Line 2 or 3 to Cheongnaknyeok Station, exit 9, then walk about three minutes. A paid lot at the hospital can be used if you drive. (Show a driver: 청라언덕)
Show this Korean name to your taxi driver or match it to signs: 청라언덕
- Best time to visit
- June through October, when the ivy is full and then turning red.
- Pair it with
- Walk down the stairs to Gyesan Cathedral and keep going to Yangnyeongsi Korean Medicine Museum, then end at Seomun Market for a market lunch.
- Great for
- Couples, Solo travelers
- Local tip
- An ivy-covered hill with three missionary houses from the early 1900s, and the starting point of the modern-alley walk. The steps down lead straight to Gyesan Cathedral.