Three-story Stone Pagoda at Mangtapbong Peak of Yeongguksa Temple, Yeongdong

Yeongguksa Temple is presumed to have been founded in the late Unified Silla period, and to have been rebuilt in the 12th century, during the reign of King Myeongjong of Goryeo, by State Preceptor Wongak. Under King Gojong of Goryeo, An Jong-pil, acting on the king's order, newly built a pagoda, a stupa and a main hall, and the temple was renamed Gukcheongsa Temple; it was later renamed Yeongguksa Temple again under King Gongmin. This pagoda stands on the summit of a small peak called Mangtapbong, some 500 m east of Yeongguksa Temple. It takes the form of a three-storey pagoda body raised on a platform of a single large mass of granite. The platform makes use of the natural rock surface, smoothed flat on top, with a natural stone left projecting at its centre, and is finished with carved pillar shapes and an ansang, an arched, eye-shaped decorative motif. The pagoda body rests directly on the platform without any separate base stone. The body stones narrow towards the top as they are stacked. On the first-storey body stone, plain, unpatterned door-panel shapes are carved in relief on all four sides, framed above and below in a raised, panel-like border. The roof stones have a gently sloping drip line, with eaves that run in a horizontal straight line before curving lightly upward at the ends. The underside of the roof stones carries five tiers of eave supports on the first storey and three tiers on the second and third storeys. Although the pagoda's diminution between storeys is not entirely uniform overall, the narrowing of the upper body stones gives it a relatively stable appearance. With its platform reduced to a single tier and the uppermost platform stone omitted, it shows the partially simplified form typical of Goryeo-period stone pagodas. Judging from the style and carving technique of each part, it is thought to have been built around the 12th century, in the middle of the Goryeo period.

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Where it is

Region

Yeongdong, Chungbuk

Designation

Treasure · 보물