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정혜사지는 옥산서원을 지나 서북쪽으로 약 2km 떨어진 곳에 있다. 정혜사는 신라 때의 사찰이기는 하나 창건연대를 알 수는 없다. '동경통지'에는 “신라 제37대 선덕왕 원년(708년)에 당의 첨의사 백우경이 참소를 입어 이곳 자옥산 아래에 우거하게 되었다”고 한다. “그는 뛰어난 경치터를 골라서 영월당과 만세암을 세웠는데 선덕왕도 행차한 바가 있다”고 적고 있다. “후에 이것을 고쳐 절을 마련했는데 곧 정혜사라 한다”고 기록했다.이 절터에 화강암으로 만들어진 독특한 형태의 13층 석탑만 남아 있다. 이 탑은 기초 지대석의 폭이 2m이고, 탑 전체의 높이는 5.9m로서 13층으로 되어 있다. 이 탑의 특징은 처음 층을 크게 부각시키고 2층부터 줄여나가 전체적으로 안정된 조화를 보여주는 데 있다. 뿐만 아니라 2층 옥신 4면의 감실모양의 열린 공간을 설치하고 있어 기단축조에 있어서도 전형적인 양식에서 벗어나 특수한 형태를 보이고 있다.
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Korea is one of the oldest continuous civilizations in the world with over five thousand years of history. According to the original creation myth, the world we live in today is the work of the Heavenly Prince Hwanung, whose father was the King of Heaven.The Heavenly Prince asked his father to give him some land to govern, so the Father sent him down to Mount Taebaek. With him the Prince brought the Minister of Clouds, the Earl of Rain and the Chancellor of Wind. They also brought three thousand helpers.Under the shade of a sandalwood tree the Prince founded a holy city called Sinsi, the City of God. He put his Ministers in charge of three hundred and sixty areas of human culture, teaching them to grow crops and to make laws concerning what is good and what is evil.A tiger and a bear living in a nearby cave saw this city and desperately wanted to become human. Every day they came to the sandalwood tree at the center of the city to pray fervently for becoming humans.Hwanung saw their devotion and gave them instructions to remain in the cave and fast for one month, eating nothing but garlic and mugwort. The tiger was too impatient to stand the long and boring days in the cave, so he gave up and left, but Bear maintained the fast. At the end of the month she was transformed into a beautiful woman who became the mother of the Korean people.Her first son was Don-gun, the First King of the Korean people. When Don-Gun passed on the throne to his own son, he became a Mountain God. It is interesting that mountain gods are still worshipped today in Korea.Text by Steve Smith.
