Seungseongyo Bridge of Seonamsa Temple, Suncheon

The approach to Seonamsa crosses a stream, and this is the bridge that carries you. It is built as one long arch of dressed stone, wide because the stream is wide, and it rests directly on the bedrock — which is why floods have never taken it. Stand below it and look up. The arch and its reflection in the water close into a circle, and the stonework is fine enough that the underside reads as a carved vault. A dragon's head projects downward from the middle of the span. Local tradition holds that pulling it out would bring the bridge down. It was built when the temple was being rebuilt after the Japanese invasions. The story attached to it: in 1698 the monk Hoam kept a hundred-day fast hoping for a vision of Avalokitesvara, and when nothing came he went to the cliff to throw himself off. A woman appeared, pulled him back, and vanished. He built the bridge.

Original Text

Visiting

Closed

N/A (Open all year round)

Parking

Available

Information

+82-61-754-5247

Visitor information: Korea Tourism Organization · KOGL Type 1

Where it is

Region

Suncheon, Jeonnam & Gwangju

Designation

Treasure · 보물