Neungpagyo Bridge of Geonbongsa Temple, Goseong

This is a rainbow-shaped stone bridge connecting the Daeungjeon Hall precinct and the Geungnakjeon Hall precinct of Geonbongsa Temple, Goseong. It is 3 m wide and 14.3 m long, with the centre of the bridge rising to a height of 5.4 m. According to the temple's historical records, Geonbongsa Temple was founded in the seventh year of King Beopheung of Silla (AD 520) by the monk Ado, under the name Wongaksa Temple. It was later rebuilt by State Preceptor Doseon at the end of the Silla period and renamed Seobongsa Temple, after a rock shaped like a phoenix was found to the west of the temple. In the seventh year of King Gongmin of Goryeo (1358), the monk Naong rebuilt it once more and gave it its present name, Geonbongsa Temple. The bridge is formed by a rainbow-shaped arch at its centre, flanked on either side by walls built of long dressed stones. The arch has a lower diameter of 7.8 m and rises 4.5 m from the base of its foundation stones, so its actual height is somewhat greater than this. According to the "Neungpagyo Sinchanggi-bi", a stele recording the new construction of the bridge erected beside Burimun Gate within the temple grounds in the thirty-fourth year of King Sukjong of Joseon (1708), the bridge was first built between the thirtieth and thirty-third years of King Sukjong's reign (1704–1707). It later collapsed in a great flood in the twenty-first year of King Yeongjo (1745) and was rebuilt in the twenty-fifth year of King Yeongjo (1749). It collapsed again in the seventeenth year of Emperor Gojong (1880), and its stones were then used to repair the stone steps of Daeungjeon Hall and Sallyeongnu Pavilion. The bridge is comparatively large in scale and well preserved in its original form, and its accompanying stele, which records the date of construction and the builders, makes it a valuable source for the study of rainbow-arch bridges.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Goseong, Gangwon

Designation

Treasure · 보물