Five-story Stone Pagoda at Bingsansa Temple Site, Uiseong

It stands beneath Bingsan Peak, a spur of Bohyeonsan Mountain, one of the Eight Scenic Sites of Gyeongsangbuk-do. It is a mojeon seoktap, a stone pagoda built by cutting stone into brick-sized blocks to imitate a brick pagoda, and was modelled on the Five-story Stone Pagoda at Tamni-ri, Uiseong. The pagoda takes the form of a five-storey body set upon a single-tier foundation. The base stone forming the foundation of the pagoda is made up of 16 stones. The middle stone of the foundation is composed of 15 stones, with separate stones used for the pillars and the surface panels. The topmost stone of the foundation consists of 8 stones, above which a high moulding is placed to support the pagoda body. In the pagoda body, the first-storey body stone has separate corner pillars set at its four corners, and a square recess is cut into its front face; this space was used to house a Buddha image or similar. From the second storey upward, the height of the body stones is reduced by more than half compared with the first storey, and each of the five roof stones has a four-tiered support carved into its underside. The sloping faces of the roof stones are each formed of five tiers. Of the finial at the top, only the base plate survives. The pagoda is presumed to have been built sometime between the late Unified Silla and early Goryeo periods. Although it is of lesser quality than the Five-story Stone Pagoda at Tamni-ri, Uiseong, it is a beautiful example of a mojeon seoktap.

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Where it is

Region

Uiseong, Gyeongbuk

Designation

Treasure · 보물