Seven-storey Tower at Hyonhwa Temple was originally standing on the site of a temple called Hyonhwa Temple at the foot of Mt. Ryongchu in Wolgo-ri, Jangphung County, Kaesong City, but at present it is in Koryo Museum.
According to the historical records, the tower was built in 1020.
It consists of a platform, the body of seven stories and a head.
It is 8.64 meters high and each side of the platform is 3.9 meters long. It is rather tall as a stone tower of the Koryo age.
On each side of the platform are three pillars between which properly faced brick-shaped stones are neatly piled in five layers. Thick plate stones are placed on the top of the platform. Such formation of the platform is rare for stone towers.
What is so unusual about the tower is curved eaves and corner columns.
On the seven body stones are engraved with Buddhist images, which shows excellent and sophisticated engraving.
The tower is large in scale and made in considerable dimensions with exquisite workmanship of parts and a good harmony of the whole and the parts.
The tower is a precious national treasure showing the tower architecture of Korean ancestors and its development.
© 2021 Kim Chaek University of Technology