Three-story Stone Pagoda in Hyeon-ri, Yeongyang

Basic information

Designation

Treasure No.610

Category

Sites & Pagodas

Era

신라시대

Designated year

1977

Location

영양군, 경상북도— 경북 영양군 영양읍 현리 401번지

Coordinates

36.652238, 129.113593

The pagoda consists of three main levels resting on top of a two-tier base. The base is surrounded at the lower tier by bas-relief figures of the twelve zodiac animals, three on each side. The upper tier is sculpted with the Eight Deities. Two of them are placed on each side, separated by a pillar-like design in the middle. Bas-reliefs of the Eight Deities started to appear in stone pagodas sometime in mid-Unified Silla. Beyond a decorative purpose, these figures play the role of evoking Sumeru Mountain, the central world-mountain in Buddhist cosmology. The body of the pagoda features, at the first level, the Four Guardian Kings in embossed bas-reliefs. The roof stones at all three levels have drainage grooves and a four-tiered moulding at the base. The overall design and style suggest that this pagoda was built sometime in the 9th century, in other words, during the late Unified Silla Period.

Location