Seven-story Stone Pagoda in Tappyeong-ri, Chungju

A Unified Silla pagoda set against the Namhan river, the largest built in its time. It is called the Central Pagoda because it stands at the middle of the country. Seven storeys rise from a base of two tiers. The base spreads wide to carry the height above it, and column shapes are carved on each of its faces; the body stone of every storey is likewise cut with columns at its corners. The roof stones lift at their four corners, which gives a pagoda of this weight some lightness, and each is cut with five steps of support beneath. The finial departs from the usual Silla arrangement of a single supporting stone: here two identical supports are stacked. From the placing of the carved columns and the joinery of the body and roof stones, it is thought to have been raised in the later eighth century. When the pagoda was repaired in 1917 a reliquary and other objects were found beneath the sixth storey and the base. A mirror among them proved to be Goryeo work, so a second deposit must have been made long after the pagoda was built.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Chungju, Chungbuk

Designation

National Treasure · 국보