Archaeological Site in Wanggung-ri
익산 왕궁리 유적
A site on the Iksan plain spanning the Baekje and Unified Silla periods. Several accounts have been handed down about it — a Mahan capital, King Mu of Baekje moving or duplicating his capital here, Anseung's Bodeokguk, Gyeon Hwon's Later Baekje capital — and excavation reads it as built across at least three periods. UNESCO lists it among the components related to the secondary Sabi capital.
Language
Place information
- Korean name
- 익산 왕궁리 유적
- Address
- San 80-1 and others, Wanggung-myeon, and 1109-8 and others, Donggodo-ri, Geumma-myeon, Iksan-si, Jeonbuk State
History
what has been handed down
Four accounts of one place
Accounts handed down about the site read it as a Mahan capital, as King Mu of Baekje moving his capital here or keeping a second one, as Anseung's Bodeokguk, and as the capital of Gyeon Hwon's Later Baekje.
excavation
At least three periods
Excavation reads the site as having been formed across at least three periods, from late Baekje to late Unified Silla.
the Unified Silla period
Tile kilns east of the pagoda
Two tile kilns thought to be of the Unified Silla period were found 30 metres east of the stone pagoda.
17 September 1998
Designated a Historic Site
Designated as a Historic Site covering 929,791 square metres.
28 July 2011
The name changes
The designation was renamed from Wanggung-ri Site to Archaeological Site in Wanggung-ri, Iksan by notice.
2015
Inscribed as World Heritage
Inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as one of the eight sites making up the Baekje Historic Areas.
What to see
The five-storey stone pagoda
The stone pagoda standing within the site. The Korea Heritage Service's own record describes it as a relic of a temple built in the Goryeo period.
The rectangular stone platforms
Rectangular stone-built remains were found, concentrated on the low ground that wraps around the pagoda.
The five-storey stone pagoda selected
Nearby
Mireuksa Temple Site
The site of a temple founded under King Mu of Baekje. It has a plan found nowhere else: stone pagodas east and west with a wooden one between them, each with its own main hall behind it. The western stone pagoda is the oldest surviving stone pagoda in Korea.
Gogung
The house of a Jeonju master cook who has worked at bibimbap alone, serving it with stone-plate bulgogi and tteok-galbi as a set.
Sunshine Studio
A standing set reproducing Hanseong at the turn of the twentieth century, its western, tiled and colonial-era buildings lining a tram route.
Sambaekjip
A kongnamul-gukbap house beside the Jeonju Gaeksa. Its Century Shop citation records a shop opened some seventy years ago by the present owner's mother, now run by a second and third generation together.
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Where these facts come from
- Korea Heritage Portal — Historic Site: Archaeological Site in Wanggung-ri, Iksan (designated 17 September 1998, 929,791 m2, San 80-1 Wanggung-myeon and 1109-8 Donggodo-ri, Geumma-myeon; Baekje to Unified Silla; renamed from Wanggung-ri Site by notice of 28 July 2011) ·
- UNESCO World Heritage Centre — Baekje Historic Areas (1477), stated as eight archaeological sites dating from 475 to 660 CE, grouping the Archaeological Site in Wanggung-ri with the Mireuksa Temple Site in Iksan as related to the secondary Sabi capital ·