Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Sights
Hongdae & Around
TOP SIGHTS
JEOLDUSAN MARTYRS' SHRINE
Jeoldusan means 'Beheading Hill', as it is here that thousands of Korean Catholics
were tortured and executed in the 1860s by royal decree. The victims' bodies were
thrown into the nearby Han River. Jeoldusan Martyrs' Shrine's museum has books,
diaries and relics of the early Catholic converts, 103 of whom have been made saints
for their martyrdom. There are also mementoes of Pope John Paul II's visit here in
1984.
Steadfast early Christian converts faced waves of government persecution, but
they refused to recant their new faith. Inside Catholic churches,
yangban
(aristocrat)
nobles and ordinary folk sat together as equals in the sight of God, an act that chal-
lenged the rigid Confucian hierarchy of Joseon society.
Next to the museum is a stark, white memorial chapel and sculpture garden. From
the car park, steps lead down to the Han River where you can stand at the foot of the
cliffs that the dead bodies of the martyrs were thrown from. The shrine is less than a
10-minute walk from the subway exit.
DON'T MISS
»
Korea Catholic Martyrs' Museum
»
Memorial Chapel
»
Sculpture Garden
PRACTICALITIES
