Yangpyeong Yongcheon-ri Three-story Stone Pagoda

This pagoda stands about 30 metres in front of Daejeokgwangjeon Hall within the grounds of Sanasa Temple. A wide platform was built up in stone and topped with square coping stones forming a border around the pagoda's base, on which the pagoda itself was erected. It appears to have had a two-tiered foundation, but at present only the upper tier survives, resting on the coping stone of the lower tier. Aside from the loss of part of the foundation and the finial, the pagoda retains the original form of a three-storey stone pagoda. Excluding the base stone set into the ground, the pagoda stands 236 cm high. At the centre, a single moulded step rises to meet the slab stones of the upper foundation. The upper foundation slab is built of four stone panels, carved in relief with corner pillars (ujoo) and a central pillar (taengju), imitating the posts of a wooden building. Neither the corner nor the central pillars are finely finished, and in particular the left and right corner pillars lean inward toward the central pillar, giving the appearance of an inward-tilting structure. The coping stone of the upper foundation, made of a single slab, is carved at the centre with two steps, one higher and one lower, to support the three-storey body above; the whole upper surface slopes down, and the four corners of the coping stone form a pronounced hip-ridge line. The body of the pagoda rises in three storeys, with the body stone and roof stone (okgaeseok, the stone that caps a pagoda or stone lantern like a roof) of each storey formed from a single piece. Corner pillars are carved in relief on the edges of each body stone. Each roof stone has three-tiered eaves supports underneath and a single low plinth carved above it to support the storey on top. The slope of the roof stones forms a gentle curve, and the eave line runs straight only at the centre, curving gently and turning upward again at the corners. While faithfully following the style of Unified Silla stone pagodas, the changes evident in the foundation and roof stones suggest that this pagoda was built in the early Goryeo period.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료