Beopheungsa Seven-Story Brick Pagoda

The Seven-Story Brick Pagoda at the Beopheungsa Temple Site is the largest and oldest brick pagoda in Korea, dating to the Unified Silla period (roughly 8th century CE). It rises 17 metres in seven tapering tiers, built entirely from small handmade bricks in a style influenced by Tang Dynasty Chinese architecture. The pagoda is designated a Korean National Treasure.

The temple that once surrounded it has completely vanished, and the pagoda now stands in a small urban park, a striking anachronism among modern apartment buildings. Up close, you can see the individual bricks and the slightly different-coloured replacements installed during restoration. The site is a short walk or taxi ride from central Andong. A small information board explains the pagoda's construction and history.

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The pagoda was built during the Unified Silla period (7th-10th centuries), when brick construction was fashionable under Chinese influence. Unlike the stone pagodas common elsewhere in Korea, this one was made entirely of fired brick — a labour-intensive process suggesting it was built for a major temple. The temple itself is long gone; the pagoda survives alone in a small park in what is now a residential neighbourhood.

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