Yongin Eobi-ri Three-story Stone Pagoda

The temple where the stone pagoda and a stone Buddha once stood is said to have been Geumdansa Temple, though no known history survives, and traces of the temple site can still be made out on the mountainside. The Yongin Eobi-ri Three-story Stone Pagoda consists of a three-storey body set on a two-tier base, its finial now lost. The base stone is a typical two-tier base formed of four long rectangular stones fitted together. On the lower tier, corner pillars are carved at either side of the face stones with a central pillar between them, rendered in low, simplified relief. The upper tier likewise has corner pillars at either side of the face stones with a central pillar in the middle. The body section retains three storeys, and it is notable that a separate supporting stone has been placed beneath the first-storey body stone. Corner pillars are carved in low relief at either side of the body stone on each storey, and the proportions diminish steadily toward the top, giving the pagoda a stable appearance. The roof stone of each storey (a stone laid like a roof over a pagoda or stone lantern) has four-tiered supports underneath, and a rain-drip groove of even width runs along the eaves; the drip line of the roof stone curves gracefully, giving an elegant impression. The construction of the base and body sections carries on the style of the Unified Silla period, and the pagoda is particularly distinctive for the separate supporting stone beneath the first-storey body stone, a feature rarely seen in stone pagodas of the Seoul and Gyeonggi region. Such a separate stone beneath the first-storey body stone appeared occasionally at the end of Unified Silla and became widespread from the early Goryeo period onward, a technique adopted mainly in stone pagodas of the central-southern and southern regions. The pagoda is therefore presumed to date from the transition between the end of Silla and the beginning of Goryeo, faithfully carrying on the style of the late Unified Silla period.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Yongin, Gyeonggi

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산