To the front garden of the national treasure ‘Goseonsaji Stone Pagoda’ located in the corner of Gyeongju Museum.

A masterpiece made during Unified Silla in the 7th century.
Dabotap Pagoda – where there is a replica of Seokgatap Pagoda
It may take 4 to 5 years to dismantle and move.

‘Gyeongju Goseonsaji Three-Story Stone Pagoda’ was declared a national treasure in 1962. The Gyeongju National Museum plans to move this stone pagoda, which has received little attention because it is located in a remote area of ​​the house -deposit, to the central outdoor exhibition hall. The replicas of the Seokgatap and Dabotap pagodas currently in the outdoor exhibition hall will be moved to other locations. Provided by Gyeongju National Museum ‘As the ancient beauty was disappearing due to being washed and carved by wind and rain, the Head ordered -said Park Chung-hee, who was worried about the distant future, to build two new towers.’

This is part of the text on the monument explaining the replicas of the Dabotap and Seokgatap pagodas that have stood in the middle of the Gyeongju National Museum’s outdoor exhibition hall for nearly 50 years. These pagodas were made to the same size as the real ones at Bulguksa Temple under the orders of former President Park when the Gyeongju Museum moved to its current location in 1975. At that time, former President Park attended the unveiling ceremony of the tower which was held in conjunction with the opening ceremony of the new museum.

Both of these replica towers have been moved. On the 26th of last month, the Cultural Heritage Committee of the National Heritage Administration accepted a moving contract to move the national treasure ‘Gyeongju Goseonsa Temple Site Three-story Stone Pagoda’ to the center of the outdoor exhibition hall. The Goseonsa Temple Site Stone Pagoda is currently near the Silla Art Museum, away from the museum entrance, and will be located in the ‘middle’. The location of the replicas of Dabotap and Seokgatap pagodas has not been confirmed. The Gyeongju Museum has been undergoing relocation work since 2017.

The reason why the stone pagodas move in a row is because the Stone Pagoda of Goshen Temple, a national treasure, is located in a corner of the museum and is difficult for visitors to see, and some of people mistaking the duplicate pagodas of Dabotap and Seokgatap for the real ones. An official at the Gyeongju Museum said, “Visitors thought the replicas of Dabotap and Seokgatap were real and showed more interest in them than national treasures. “We decided to move the tower to enhance its status as a national treasure.”

Goseonsa Temple Site Stone Pagoda was built at Goseonsa Temple, where Master Wonhyo (617-686) was the chief priest, at the end of the 7th century, at the beginning of the United Kingdom of Silla. When the temple site was flooded due to the completion of the Deokdong Dam in 1975, it was moved to the Gyeongju Museum. It is expected to take four to five years to dismantle, examine and preserve the stone pagodas​​​​​​​before moving them.