Jeoldusan Martyrs' Shrine

About this place

Jeoldusan was originally called Jamdubong ('Silkworm-Head Peak') because it was said to resemble the head of a silkworm. In February 1866, French warships, taking issue with the persecution of Catholics, sailed up the Han River as far as Yanghwajin and Seogang. Enraged by this, the Regent Daewongun had countless Catholics beheaded at Jamdubong. Thereafter, because heads were cut off there, the place came to be known as Jeoldusan ('Beheading Hill'). To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the martyrdoms of the Byeongin Persecution (1866), the Catholic Church of Korea opened a Martyrs' Memorial Hall in October 1967. Today, within the Jeoldusan holy site there are an exhibition hall of historical records and relics related to the Catholic Church of Korea, a reliquary room enshrining the remains of 28 saints, a pilgrimage church, a martyrs' education center, and an outdoor exhibition hall. The Jeoldusan Martyrs' Shrine is a deeply meaningful holy site where the martyrdom spirit of the faith ancestors of the Catholic Church of Korea—who bore witness to their faith at the cost of their lives—lives and breathes.