Anseong Juksan-ri Three-story Stone Pagoda

The Anseong Juksan-ri Three-story Stone Pagoda is a stone pagoda with a three-story body on a double square base. Only the capstone of the lower base is exposed above ground, while the upper base features corner pillars (uju) at the edges of roughly dressed side stones. The upper surface of the thick capstone is carved with a lotus pattern in the form of a reverse lotus (bongnyeon), frequently used in Goryeo Dynasty stone pagodas, and a low square support for the body stone is expressed in the center. The body stones and the roof-imitation cover stones (okgaeseok) are each made of a single stone. The body is made to a height similar to that of the upper base, but it rapidly decreases from the second story upward, showing the unique formative beauty of Goryeo stone pagodas. The water-shedding surface of the cover stones is relatively gentle, while the eaves surface is horizontal and then turns upward at the corners. The area where the stone pagoda is located is known as the former site of Bongeopsa Temple, and excavation results revealed that the lower base of a Unified Silla stone pagoda was reused. Additionally, roof tiles inscribed with the sixth year of the Taihe era (832) were excavated from the lower part of the pagoda base, confirming that a temple existed here since the Unified Silla period. Therefore, it is understood that the Juksan-ri Three-story Stone Pagoda was built by reusing the base of a Unified Silla stone pagoda when the temple and pagoda were damaged during the chaos of the Later Three Kingdoms period and then extensively repaired with the founding of Goryeo.

(Source: National Heritage Administration)