Image: Asl13

Description: The only remaining major structure in Bunhwangsa is this brick pagoda. Brick pagodas, while common in China, are rare in Korea. It is thought that based on the architecture, it would have been 7 to 9 stories tall, and an old historical document does state 9 stories. But it was dismantled by Japanese archaeologists in 1915 and rebuilt - and the current 3-story configuration is what remains to this day. According to the official guide signs here, the Japanese are blamed for reducing the pagoda to 3 stories. But according to Wikipedia, the pagoda was hollow inside, and the upper levels had simply collapsed over time into the cavity.
Title: Asl13
Credit: Bunhwangsa 芬皇寺
Author: Rachel from Los Angeles
Usage Terms: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0
License: CC BY-SA 2.0
License Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
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