Yakhyeon Church in Seoul: Korea's first Gothic building

In Seoul almost everyone heads straight for the five royal palaces and the Myeongdong district. Few climb the little hill of Jungnim-dong, in the Jung-gu district, where the Catholic church of Yakhyeon (약현성당) stands, whose official name is the Church of Saint Joseph. It is a small building, of red brick, but with a precise distinction: completed in 1892, it is the first Western Gothic-style construction ever built in Korea, and more generally the country's first modern building of European design.

The historical context

The historical context explains why it stands right here. After Korea granted a form of religious freedom in 1886, the Catholic community grew and in 1891 a parish was organised. The design was entrusted to the coadjutor bishop Coste, while the first stone was laid by Doucet, the parish priest of Myeongdong Cathedral. This is no minor detail: the experience gained at Yakhyeon later served as a testing ground for the construction of the far better-known Myeongdong Cathedral, which followed shortly after. In practice, it was here that the French missionaries and the Korean bricklayers learned to build in the Gothic style before tackling the larger site.

The building has a Latin-cross plan, about 12 metres wide by 32 long, with low arched windows and a pointed-arch portal. Its modest dimensions and exposed brick give it an air that is more sober than monumental, far from the idea of an imposing cathedral. For this reason it is worth arriving unhurried and devoting time to the interior as well, kept open as a public sanctuary.

The hill of the martyrs

The hill on which it stands was not chosen by chance. The land belonged to the house of Yi Seung-hun, beheaded during the anti-Catholic persecution of 1801, and the church was built facing the site of the Seosomun executions, where more than a hundred Korean Catholics were put to death. Yakhyeon was thus also born as a gesture of remembrance towards those martyrs. Today the Seosomun area is a park with a dedicated memorial, reachable on foot: it is worth linking the two stops to understand the bond between the place and its history.

Fire and restoration

The church was severely damaged by an act of arson in 1998. Given its importance, it was decided to rebuild it faithfully, and the restoration was completed in 2000. It had already been designated a national Historic Site by the cultural heritage administration on 22 November 1977. Those who follow Korean series might recognise it: it was one of the locations of the drama "The Fiery Priest".

How to get there

How to get there. The most convenient station is Chungjeongno, on lines 2 and 5 of the Seoul metro; you take exit 4 (or 5) and walk about ten minutes along Jungnim-ro. The last stretch is uphill and the entrance is reached by a flight of steps, since the church sits atop the little hill; along the way you will come across a few small cafés. The official address is 447-1 Cheongpa-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul.

Since it is an active parish, visiting hours follow the liturgical ones: it is best to avoid mass times if you want to look at the interior at your leisure, and to enter with the respect due to a place of worship. It is a brief stop, but for anyone curious about the history of Seoul beyond the royal palaces it tells a little-visited chapter: the arrival of Western architecture in Korea and the memory of its Christian martyrs.

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