This architecture with a long history can be well shown by old pagodas in Korea.

It was developed from the period of the Three Kingdoms (early 3rd century B.C. - middle 7th century A.D.) when Buddhist temples came into being.

Buddhist pagodas were built with wood, stone or bricks. A story about the first pagoda is recorded on an old book "Samgukyusa (History of the Three Kingdoms)".

Wooden or stone pagoda consists of platform, body and head. In body part, the height and width of each storey are regular.

Stone pagoda came into being for the first time at the close of the period of the Three Kingdoms. It became the main form in Korean pagodas as it was easier to build and longer to stand than wooden one.

Most of the old pagodas are rectangular ones, and there are also octagonal and hexagonal pagodas. In particular, pagodas dating back to Koguryo Kingdom (B.C. 277-A.D. 668) are all octagonal ones.

In the periods of Koryo (918-1392) and the feudal Joson dynasty (1392-1910), too, multi-angular pagodas had been built one after another in Pyongyang and other areas that belonged to Koguryo Kingdom in the past. Typical are a five-storied octagonal pagoda at Yongmyong Temple, a seven-storied pagoda at Hongbok Temple and a nine-storied rectangular pagoda and a 13-storied octagonal pagoda at Pohyon Temple.

Pagoda architecture was registered as a national intangible heritage.