Donghwasa Three-story Stone Pagoda, Suncheon

Basic information

Designation

Treasure No.831

Category

Sites & Pagodas

Era

고려시대 10세기

Designated year

1985

Location

순천시, 전라남도— 전남 순천시 별량면 동화사길 208, 동화사 (대룡리) / (지번)전남 순천시 별량면 대룡리 282 동화사

Coordinates

34.873104, 127.394748

Donghwasa Temple is located at the peak of Gaeunsan Mountain on the way from Suncheon to Beolgyo. Euicheon reached this point when he was traveling around the southern part of Korea. He gave the mountain its name, which means “developing clouds”, as he saw clouds rising from the east of the sky. Generally, a pagoda consists of three parts, the sylobate which holds the weight of the pagoda, the body of the pagoda on the sylobate and finial decoration at the top. This is the three-story pagoda in front of the Buddha Hall of Donghwasa Temple. The upper sylobate is sloping and made with four stones. The main stones and the roof stones of the body are each made of one stone. Every story of the main stone has an engraving of a pillar pattern at the edge. There is a three-tiered base under the roof stone to hold it, but a wide gap between the heights of the bases for the roof stone gives the impression of focusing on style. The steep slant formed by the edges of the eaves lends a grave look to the roof stone. The pagoda is noteworthy in preserving its finial base, the over-turned bowl decoration, the floral decoration, the wheel shaped decoration, and the roof-shaped decoration. It well reflects the transition from the Silla to the Goryeo construction style with its reduced size, simplified decoration, the absence of pillar patterns, and the smaller number of layers of the base of the roof stone.

Location