VISIT JEJU

The Stone Pagoda of Wondangsa Temple Site is the only tower in Jejudo Island to have been built in the Goryeo Dynasty. It shouldn’t be difficult to recognize the uniqueness of the Jeju stone pagoda, as it was made using Jeju basalt. It was designated and has been protected as Treasure 1187. Wondangsa Temple tragically was destroyed during the Jeju 4.3 Incident Uprising and Buddhist nuns are currently using Bultapsa Temple, a small temple nearby. Wondangsa Temple was also restored across from it, albeit in a reduced sized. However, the condition of this five-story stone pagoda is quite satisfactory, so it is highly valued for its historical and artistic merits by those studying of the history of Goryeo. According to a legend regarding the stone pagoda, during Yuan Dynasty, the 11th King Sunje did not have a son to succeed his throne, which was a constant source of worry for him. A monk advised the king to offer a Buddhist mass by constructing a tower on a Samcheopchilbong (a three folded mountain surrounded by other six smaller mountains) that was touched by the Big Dipper’s energy. His subjects found Wondangbong Volcanic Cone, a Samcheopchilbong at the northeast coast of Tamnaguk that was under the control of Yuan at the time, and built Wondangsa Temple and stone pagoda on the cone and the 6 smaller mountains nearby and offered a mass. Bultapsa Temple was reconstructed at the original site of Wondangsa Temple at the foot of the 170.4m tall Wondangbong Volcanic Cone, where the five story tower remains. This tower has a height of 385cm meters with a width of 84cm to the side and 89cm to the front. Its stylobates become unusually narrow at the first story stylobate.