West Pagoda Restoration Site

Inside this building, the west pagoda is disassembled for restoration.

Look down to the floor. You can imagine the gigantic size of the pagoda from the size of the floor. The stone pagoda of Mireuksa was probably built in the transition period, when the wooden pagodas were being replaced by stone pagodas.

Ancient kingdoms of Korea were skilled in building wooden pagodas. They even passed down the construction technique to Japan. Due to frequent earthquakes, Japan built many wooden pagodas to minimize damage from the destruction caused by the earthquakes. Unfortunately, many wooden pagodas of Korea were lost in fire during a multitude of wars.

Starting around the 7th century, Koreans began to build stone pagodas with granite to better preserve them.

However, it’s interesting to see that this stone pagoda shows the features of wooden pagodas in terms of the construction method and shape.

Look at the pillar in the photo. The stone was polished so that the bottom was wider than the top. It has a stable shape. The roof is made in a smooth curvy shape, just like the roof of traditional Korean wooden buildings. This is a typical wooden pagoda style.

The 1st floor is particularly unique. The door was made in the middle section so that it can lead to all directions. This is a very rare design. You can see this for yourself from the restored east pagoda. Such structure that allows entrance to the pagoda is also a characteristic of a wooden pagoda.


The Restoration Process of the West Pagoda

As you saw from the replica in the exhibition museum, the west pagoda was found severely damaged. It was only able to confirm that the pagoda was at least six stories high.

When Korea was occupied by Japan in the early 20th century, the Japanese found this stone pagoda. Back then, the whole pagoda was on the brink of collapsing. So it was repaired by simply applying concrete. However, the detailed structural safety diagnosis of 1998 led to high concerns regarding its safety. As a result, it has been disassembled again for a more accurate repairing process.

The disassembly process unexpectedly led us to a discovery of an interesting artifact. Look below to the floor. There’s a small empty space in the stone right in the center. This is where the sarira reliquary was discovered.

As we can see, the west pagoda is completely disassembled now. It takes more than 10 years to disassemble and restore one pagoda. The restoration process is still going on today.