Arched Bridge in Beolgyo, Boseong

A hongyo is a bridge built so that the space beneath it forms a semicircular, rainbow-like arch; such bridges are also called arch bridges or "rainbow bridges". This bridge is the largest of the surviving hongyo in Korea, and local residents still use it today. Formerly a bridge of linked rafts stood on this site, giving rise to the place name Beolgyo (筏橋, "raft bridge"). It is said that in 1729, the fifth year of King Yeongjo of Joseon, a monk of Seonamsa Temple had it rebuilt as a stone bridge. The bridge was later repaired in 1737, the thirteenth year of King Yeongjo, when it was rebuilt as a three-span rainbow bridge, and it has survived to the present through a four-year restoration carried out from 1981 to 1984. At the centre of the ceiling beneath each arch, a stone carved with a dragon's head projects downward, an expression of the folk belief linking dragons with water. It is said that wind chimes were once hung from the tip of the dragon's nose, so that their soft sound would ring out. The river spanned by the bridge is affected by the tides: at low tide the bottom of the bridge is almost entirely exposed, while at high tide most of it is submerged. The bridge is thought to have originally measured 4 m wide and 80 m long, and local residents are said to hold a sixtieth-birthday celebration for the bridge every sixty years. Amid its splendid and massive appearance it retains an air of refined elegance, making it a representative work that reveals both grandeur and outstanding craftsmanship.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Boseong, Jeonnam & Gwangju

Designation

Treasure · 보물