West Three-story Stone Pagoda at Seongjusa Temple Site, Boryeong

This is the westernmost of three pagodas standing in a row behind what appears to have been the site of the main hall at the Seongjusa Temple site. Although no detailed account of its origins survives, Seongjusa Temple was built on former Baekje territory during the Unified Silla period; its layout is unusual, and besides these three pagodas many other stone remains survive, including a memorial stele, a stele-bearing tortoise base, stone platforms and foundation stones. The foundation supporting the pagoda has two tiers, and on the topmost stone of the foundation a separate support stone is placed to bear the first-storey body stone — a new style that leads on to the stone pagodas of the Goryeo period. On the south face of the first-storey body stone of the three-storey body, a pair of rings shaped like animal faces are carved. The roof stones each have four-tiered eaves supports on their underside, and all four corners curve up lightly. At the top, the finial no longer survives, and only the square support stone (noban) that once held it remains in place. When the pagoda was dismantled and repaired in 1971, a square reliquary cavity was found in the first-storey body stone, but it contained only decayed juniper powder and dust. Compared with the other two pagodas standing alongside it, this pagoda is wider and gives an impression of solemn grandeur; judging from the style of its foundation and roof stones, it is thought to date from the late Unified Silla period.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Boryeong, Chungnam

Designation

Treasure · 보물