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 on the southern side of Nangsan Mountain. The site includes 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 Dangganjiju (flagpole supports) are located, though they may not be in their original positions.

Excavations conducted by the Cultural Heritage Administration from 1969 to 1971 over three rounds revealed that the current main hall site is 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 stair foundation 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 only their base ranges confirmed, with some natural stone or brick base stones identified for the corridors. Notably, evidence of side corridors between the main hall and the main corridors was found, indicating that side 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 artifacts found nearby suggest that small hermitages may have 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, showing that installing large staircases in front of the middle gate was a common practice in temples of that era, similar to Bulguksa Temple.