Nine-story Stone Pagoda of Unjusa Temple, Hwasun

This pagoda stands at the very entrance to the southern valley leading into Unjusa Temple. Large boulders form the base stone and the lower tier of the platform, above which an upper tier of the platform was built, and on top of that a nine-story pagoda body was erected. The central stone of the upper platform tier is made of four slabs; pillar shapes are carved at each of the four corners, and a thick pillar shape is again carved in the middle of each face, dividing it in two. It is also distinctive that the topmost stone of the platform doubles as the first-story roof stone of the pagoda body, a feature found in every pagoda at Unjusa Temple and thought to be a trait that emerged as the style moved into the Goryeo period. On each face of every main body stone, a double diamond pattern is carved, with a flower design placed inside it, a technique seen only in the stone pagodas of Unjusa Temple. Each roof stone has its underside slightly raised at the edges and is carved with several layers of a comb-tooth pattern. At the top, a cylinder-shaped stone and a borun, a wheel-shaped ornament, are placed to form the crowning decoration. The square cross-section of the pagoda is common to ordinary Goryeo-period pagodas, but the omission of eave supports on the underside of the roof stones and the decoration carved on each face, both departing from the usual type, are rarely seen features. This is thought to reflect well the strongly regional character typical of the Goryeo period. It is the tallest of the many pagodas at Unjusa Temple; originally a Provincial Tangible Cultural Heritage, it was upgraded to Treasure status in 1984.

AI Translation

Visiting

Opening hours

Open 24 hr

Closed

N/A (Open all year round)

Parking

Available

Information

• 1330 Travel Hotline: +82-2-1330<br> (Korean, English, Japanese, Chinese)<br> • For more info: +82-61-374-0660

Visitor information: Korea Tourism Organization · KOGL Type 1

Where it is

Region

Hwasun, Jeonnam & Gwangju

Designation

Treasure · 보물