Five-story Stone Pagoda in Gagok-ri, Gokseong

This pagoda is located on the site of a temple in the northern slope of Maebong Peak in Gagok-ri. It is the form of a five-story body stand on a two-tiered platform.

The original shape of the bottom stone under the five-story stone pagoda cannot be known because it is buried under a foundation stone made of cement. Unlike the lower tier of the platform, the upper tier is inscribed with the shape of columns at the four corners. The roof stones of the body is very well-proportioned, with each tier getting smaller as they reach the top, making the top one the smallest. The body of the first tier is composed of four stones, whereas each body of the second through the top tier consists of just an individual stone. Each body stone has a column stone at the corners. The southern side of the bodies, for the second through top tier, has the shape of a rectangular groove, which can be also referred to as a ‘tabernacle’.

The bottoms of the roof stones of the first to fourth tiers of the body have three stories, while the bottoms of fifth roof stone have two stories. The horizontal eaves lines of the roof stone are held up slightly at the edges, and the corners of the roof stones have holes, which are assumed to have been used for hanging wind bells. What clearly distinguishes this pagoda from the others, is the use of a supporting stone on top of the roof stone to bear the body stone of the upper tier.

The expression styles made in the body and roof stones, and the existence of a bottom stone supporting the body in each tier, is a typical type of a stone pagoda in the Goryeo period. The gentle slope and thick edges of the roof stones carry the features of a Baekje style stone pagoda. Built in the Goryeo period, it is a Baekje style stone pagoda found in the ruins of the Baekje period, giving an overall elegance, sophisticated and stability impression. The stone pagoda itself shows a high standard of historical, academic, and artistic values.

Source: Korea Heritage Service signboard ↗ · collected 2026-10-08