The Korea Heritage Service has designated Daegwangjeon Hall of Sinansa Temple in Geumsan County, South Chungcheong Province, as a Treasure. The hall was scientifically confirmed in 2023 to have been originally built in the 16th century, based on tree-ring dating of wooden members. The agency said the building preserves original materials and craftsmanship and will work with local government to preserve and manage the site.
Daegwangjeon Hall of Sinansa Temple in Geumsan, South Chungcheong Province / Korea Heritage Service
The Korea Heritage Service has designated the Daegwangjeon Hall of Sinansa Temple in Geumsan County, South Chungcheong Province, as a Treasure, one of the country's state heritage designations just below National Treasure.
No written record establishes exactly when the hall, the temple's main worship building, was first built. But a ridge-beam inscription discovered during dismantling repairs in 2007 recorded a 1638 reconstruction and an 1840 renovation. Later, in 2023, tree-ring dating of key wooden members found several dated to 1583, scientifically confirming the hall was originally built in the 16th century.
The hall features a "dapo" bracket style — in which bracket sets supporting the roof's weight are placed both atop the columns and between them, rather than only atop the columns — combined with a gable roof, a design in which the roof slopes only at the front and back. The agency said placing bracket sets on the building's sides and corners despite its gable-roof design is a distinctive feature reflecting 16th-century construction techniques.
