Gyeongju Mangdeoksa Temple Site

Mangdeoksa Temple was a temporary temple built in 679 (the 19th year of King Munmu) by the Silla royal family to deceive envoys sent by Tang China to verify the construction of Sacheonwangsa Temple. It was later rebuilt and completed in 692 (the 1st year of King Hyoso), but now only its site remains, located south of Sacheonwangsa Temple at the southern foot of Nangsan Mountain. The Mangdeoksa Temple Site retains the foundations of east and west wooden pagodas, a main hall, a lecture hall, a middle gate, and corridors, exhibiting the typical twin-pagoda layout of the Unified Silla period. To the south, there is a staircase site, and to the west, the Mangdeoksa Temple Site Dangganjiju (flagpole supports) are located, though they may not be in their original positions.

Excavations conducted three times from 1969 to 1971 by the Cultural Heritage Administration revealed that the current main hall site was reduced in size, with the original base width estimated to have been larger in the east-west direction. At the pagoda sites, the base stones and staircase base stones remain, and most of the cornerstone of the east pagoda are still in their original positions. The middle gate site and east-west corridors have had their base ranges confirmed, but only some natural stone or brick base stones of the corridors were identified. Notably, it was confirmed that there were wing corridors between the main hall and the main corridors, indicating that wing corridors were essential in Silla's twin-pagoda temple layouts. The lecture hall site is heavily damaged, with no traces of its base remaining, but based on relics found nearby, it is presumed that small hermitages existed there until the Joseon period. In front of the middle gate on a sloped area, there is a large stone staircase in relatively good condition, which, similar to the case of Bulguksa Temple, shows that installing large staircases in front of the middle gate was a common practice in temples of that era.