Even though no original buildings have survived the many fires since the temple was founded, the layout of the monastery from south to north-Nandaimon gate, Kondo, Lecture Hall, Dining Hall, in a straight line – and the scale of all of the buildings are just as they were in the Heian period.
何度かの火災を経て、東寺には創建当時の建物は残っていないが、南大門・金堂・講堂・食堂（じきどう）が南から北へ一直線に整然と並ぶ伽藍配置や、各建物の規模は平安時代のままである。