Along the northern bank of the Han River in Hapjeong-dong, Mapo District, right beside the busy rail and highway spans of Yanghwa Bridge, a sheer pine-covered rock promontory rises more than thirty meters straight out of the water's edge. Climbing the ginkgo-lined slope to its breezy summit leaves urban traffic suddenly behind, opening onto a quiet grass bluff crowned by a soaring white granite cangue monument and a circular sanctuary roofed like the broad-brimmed horsehair hat of a Joseon scholar.
This is Jeoldusan Martyrs' Shrine (절두산 순교성지, 切頭山 殉敎聖地), one of the most moving pilgrimage sanctuaries of Asian Catholicism, linked along Seoul's official Vatican pilgrimage trail with Myeongdong Cathedral. Once praised by Joseon poets for moonlit river views before becoming an execution cliff in the autumn of 1866, the promontory stands today as a quiet monument to forgiveness, lay-led faith, and spiritual endurance.
IThe Crypt of Twenty-Eight Martyrs and the Byeongin Persecution of 1866
Beneath the circular granite sanctuary of Jeoldusan lies the spiritual heart of the entire bluff: the subterranean Martyrs' Relic Crypt (Sungyoja Yuhaesil). Set into quiet stone walls lit by votive candles rest twenty-eight white marble reliquary niches enshrining the bodily remains of twenty-seven canonized Korean Catholic Saints (numbered among the 103 Martyrs canonized in Seoul by Pope John Paul II on May 6, 1984) together with one unknown martyr honoring the countless unnamed men, women, and children whose bodies were swept into the Han River below.
Among the saints resting in the crypt are entire multi-generational families of believers, royal court translator Saint John Nam Jong-sam, Saint Augustine Yu Jin-gil, relatives of lay leader Saint Paul Chong Hasang, and ordinary potters and catechists, bearing witness to the singular historical origin of Korean Catholicism as a church founded in the late eighteenth century by lay scholars reading Christian texts in Classical Chinese before any ordained foreign missionary had entered the country.
Within Catholic pilgrimage spirituality, Jeoldusan is maintained not as a monument to historical grievance, but as a living meditation on Christ's parable of the grain of wheat in the Gospel of John: Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain, but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Daily Masses offered atop the former execution bluff pray specifically for reconciliation across the divided Korean Peninsula and peace among nations once estranged by nineteenth-century fear and gunboat diplomacy.
Court annals of King Gojong and archdiocesan martyrdom records document how scenic Jamdubong became Jeoldusan. Because the riverside crag arched above the water like the raised head of a silkworm, Joseon literati long knew it as Jamdubong (蠶頭峰, Silkworm-Head Peak). Early in 1866 (the Byeongin year), Regent Heungseon Daewongun launched Joseon Korea's deadliest anti-Catholic campaign (the Byeongin Persecution, which claimed roughly eight thousand Catholic lives nationwide, including nine French MEP missionaries). In September and October 1866, French Rear Admiral Pierre-Gustave Roze sailed warships up the Han River as far as Yanghwajin Ferry directly beneath Jamdubong cliff in retaliation (the French Campaign of 1866). Enraged by foreign warships penetrating the capital's river gateway, the regent decreed that the waters defiled by Western vessels must be cleansed with the blood of followers of the Western religion right above Yanghwajin. Throughout that autumn and winter, Catholic prisoners were marched up Jamdubong cliff, beheaded, and cast into the river below, prompting grieving townspeople to call the crag Jeoldusan (切頭山, Beheading Mountain).
Visitors walking along the riverfront in Hapjeong often conflate Catholic Jeoldusan Martyrs' Shrine atop the western rock promontory with the Yanghwajin Foreign Missionary Cemetery immediately across the lane on the lower eastern slope. Although adjacent, the two sacred precincts belong to distinct Christian traditions and eras: Jeoldusan crowns the cliff where Roman Catholic Korean martyrs perished in 1866, whereas Yanghwajin Cemetery next door was established in 1890 as the resting place of more than 140 Western Protestant missionaries, physicians, and educators (such as Horace Underwood and Henry Appenzeller) who pioneered modern schools and hospitals in late Joseon Korea.
IIFrom the 1866 Execution Cliff to National Historic Site No. 399
Exactly one hundred years elapsed between the executions of autumn 1866 and the laying of the cornerstone for the memorial church and museum crowning Jeoldusan today.
- Autumn 1866Byeongin Persecution executions atop Jamdubong bluff above YanghwajinFollowing the withdrawal of French warships from Yanghwajin Ferry, Joseon authorities execute at least 29 documented named martyrs and hundreds to thousands of unnamed Korean Catholics atop Jamdubong cliff.
- 1956Archdiocese of Seoul acquires the Jeoldusan headlandUnder Archbishop Paul Ro Ki-nam, Korean Catholic lay associations raise funds after the Korean War to secure ownership of the rocky promontory ahead of the 1866 centenary.
- 1966 to 1967Completion of the Centenary Memorial Church and Catholic Martyrs' MuseumBegun in March 1966 to plans by modernist architect Lee Hee-tae and dedicated in October 1967, the complex opens South Korea's first specialized Catholic historical museum alongside the underground relic crypt.
- 1984 and 1985Pilgrimage visits by Pope John Paul II and Mother TeresaOn May 3, 1984, upon arriving in Seoul to canonize the 103 Korean Martyrs, Pope John Paul II kneels in prayer inside Jeoldusan's relic crypt, followed by Mother Teresa of Calcutta in 1985.
- 1997Designated National Historic Site of South Korea No. 399On November 7, 1997, the Korean government designates Yanghwajin Ferry and Jamdubong Remains (Jeoldusan) as National Historic Site No. 399 for its pivotal nineteenth-century historical significance.
- 2014Vatican recognition along the Seoul Catholic Pilgrimage RoutesCoinciding with Pope Francis's 2014 pastoral visit to Seoul, Jeoldusan becomes a flagship terminus of the Vatican-recognized Seoul Catholic Pilgrimage Routes.
Early Hangul catechisms, silk letters, and the Hyunggudol execution stone. Inside the Korean Catholic Martyrs' Museum on the cliff edge, visitors encounter rare eighteenth- and nineteenth-century manuscripts, early Hangul prayer books copied by women in candlelit rooms, missionary correspondence related to Hwang Sa-yeong's famous 1801 Silk Letter, and original judicial transcripts of the 1866 trials. Out on the riverfront lawn stands a stark replica and historical display of the Hyunggudol (a heavy pierced granite slab through which prison executioners drew a strangulation cord during secret cell executions) beside the towering white granite Byeongin Martyrs' Monument shaped like a wooden prisoner's cangue opening skyward.
IIILee Hee-tae's Indigenous Modernism: the Gat-Hat Dome and Prayer-Blade Bell Tower
Completed in October 1967, the Jeoldusan Memorial Church and Museum is celebrated by historians of modern Korean architecture as the masterwork of Catholic architect Lee Hee-tae (이희태, 1925 to 1981). Declining to imitate Western Gothic spires, Lee divided the summit program into two poetic volumes: a horizontal tile-roofed museum wing supported on slender white colonnades recalling a classical Korean riverside pavilion, and a circular granite-faced sanctuary crowned by a conical wide-brimmed roof modeled on the traditional Korean horsehair gat hat worn by Joseon gentlemen.
Rising beside the circular chapel is a dramatic curved concrete bell tower pierced by three arched openings: viewed in profile against the river sky, its sweeping arc evokes the curved executioner's blade of 1866, yet viewed head-on from the courtyard steps, the twin curves join like bound hands lifted in prayer.
Faced in rough-textured Korean granite, the round nave gathers worshippers around an altar bathed in natural light streaming straight down from an oculus skylight at the apex of the conical gat-hat roof.
Excavated directly into the rock beneath the sanctuary like an early Christian catacomb, housing 28 marble reliquaries containing the relics of 27 canonized Korean Saints and 1 unknown martyr.
A three-story pavilion-inspired museum overlooking the Han River cliff, exhibiting Joseon astronomical and world maps brought via Beijing, early Hangul Catholic texts, martyr relics, and modern sacred sculpture.
Standing at the highest grassy point of the headland, this monumental carved granite arch transforms the heavy wooden neck-stock (kal) worn by Joseon prisoners into a gateway of resurrection overlooking the river.
Fourteen outdoor Stations of the Cross wind beneath old pines along the cliff rim beside bronze statues of Korea's first native priest, Saint Andrew Kim Taegon (1821 to 1846), and Pope John Paul II.
Tucked into the southern rock face above the river is a candlelit Marian grotto paired with a breezy cliffside terrace looking straight across the Han River toward Yeouido Island.
| Feature | Key specifications and historical facts | Verified source |
|---|---|---|
| Historical names | Originally Jamdubong (Silkworm-Head Peak), called Jeoldusan (Beheading Mountain) after autumn 1866 | Korea Heritage Service (KHS), EncyKorea |
| Architect and dates | Designed by Lee Hee-tae, begun March 1966 and dedicated October 1967 for the Byeongin centenary | Jeoldusan Martyrs' Shrine (jeoldusan.or.kr) |
| Enshrined relics | Bodily relics of 27 canonized Saints (canonized 1984) and 1 unknown martyr in the underground crypt | Archdiocese of Seoul, Jeoldusan Shrine |
| Historic visitors | Pope John Paul II (May 3, 1984) and Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta (1985) | Jeoldusan Martyrs' Shrine (jeoldusan.or.kr) |
| Heritage status | National Historic Site No. 399 (Nov 7, 1997), official Vatican Seoul Catholic Pilgrimage landmark | Korea Heritage Service (KHS) |
IVThe Lie of the Land
Long before 1866, Jamdubong bluff was celebrated in eighteenth-century landscape paintings by Jeong Seon as one of the most dramatic river-and-cliff prospects west of walled Seoul. The reading below examines the terrain through the library's comparative framework of traditional East Asian landform geomancy (pungsu-jiri).
Positioned at coordinates 37.5442 degrees north, 126.9117 degrees east, Jeoldusan is a solid metamorphic rock promontory rising roughly 35 meters directly above the northern bank of the Han River. Topographically, it forms the dramatic riverfront terminus of a ridge descending southward from Mount Wausan in Mapo that suddenly rears its head at the water's edge in the classic configuration known as a silkworm head drinking from the river (jamdu eumsu-hyeong). Sheltered behind to the north by the Mapo hills, the bluff drops sheer on three sides toward the nearly kilometer-wide river channel.
Architect Lee Hee-tae aligned the memorial complex along the level crest so that the sanctuary and museum veranda sit North and face South across a vast water bright hall formed by the broad Han River and the mouth of Anyangcheon Stream, with Yeouido Island in the middle distance and the peaks of Mount Gwanaksan rising along the southern horizon as a distant facing mountain. Elevated high above road level and swept by clean river breezes and reflected southern sunlight, the once sorrowful execution cliff feels luminous, open, and profoundly peaceful.
VKorean Martyrs' Month in September and Shared Kinship with Vietnamese Catholics
Administered by the Archdiocese of Seoul, Jeoldusan celebrates daily pilgrim Masses according to the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar, drawing its largest crowds during Lent and throughout September, honored nationwide as Korean Martyrs' Month. The table below outlines the key annual observances.
| Date | Calendar system | Observance | Ritual practice and significance at Jeoldusan |
|---|---|---|---|
| September 20 and throughout September | Gregorian liturgical calendar | Solemnity of Saints Andrew Kim Taegon, Paul Chong Hasang, and Companions (Martyrs' Month) | Thousands of pilgrims walk the Seoul Catholic Pilgrimage Routes to Jeoldusan for open-air Masses on the bluff lawn and veneration in the relic crypt. |
| Fridays of Lent and Holy Week | Gregorian liturgical calendar (March to April) | Cliffside Way of the Cross Meditations | Parish and youth groups pray silently along the fourteen pine-shaded Stations of the Cross overlooking the Han River. |
| October | Solar calendar | Anniversary of the 1866 Autumn Martyrdoms and 1967 Shrine Dedication | Memorial Masses for the unnamed martyrs of Yanghwajin alongside special historical exhibitions inside the Martyrs' Museum. |
| November 24 and seasonal migrant retreats | Gregorian liturgical calendar | Pilgrimages by Vietnamese and Asian Catholic Communities in Korea | Vietnamese Catholic communities in Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi gather at Jeoldusan on Lenten retreats and around the Feast of the Vietnamese Martyrs. |
A deeply felt sister shrine for Vietnamese Catholics in South Korea. Across the universal Catholic Church, Vietnam (with 117 Martyrs canonized in June 1988) and Korea (with 103 Martyrs canonized in May 1984, both by Pope John Paul II) share an extraordinary nineteenth-century spiritual parallel shaped by Classical Chinese literacy, deep filial piety, lay catechists, and wooden cangues borne in fidelity. Consequently, Vietnamese Catholic workers, students, and families living across Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi regularly make Lenten and autumn pilgrimages to kneel inside Jeoldusan's underground relic crypt, experiencing an immediate bond of faith connecting the Han River bluff with So Kien, La Vang, and the martyr shrines of Vietnam.
VILocation And How To Get There
- Address
- 6 Tojeong-ro, Hapjeong-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul (mỏm đá bờ bắc sông Hán)
- Getting there
- The shrine is located at 6 Tojeong-ro, Hapjeong-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul. Take Seoul Subway Line 2 or Line 6 to Hapjeong Station, exit through Exit 7, and follow the signed pedestrian lane along Yanghwajin-gil southward toward the Han River for about 7 to 8 minutes up to the Jeoldusan gate.
- Coordinates
- 37.5442, 126.9117
The outdoor cliffside gardens and Stations of the Cross at Jeoldusan welcome respectful pilgrims and visitors into a serene riverside sanctuary above the Han River. When descending into the subterranean Relic Crypt or entering the circular church, please remove hats, silence mobile phones completely, maintain strict silence around kneeling pilgrims, and refrain from indoor photography in the crypt and museum galleries.
Nearby places in the library
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?Quick Questions
Why is the cliff called Jeoldusan ('Beheading Mountain')?
Originally admired for its riverside scenery under the name Jamdubong ('Silkworm-Head Peak'), the cliff became an execution ground during the Byeongin Persecution in the autumn of 1866 after French warships sailed up to Yanghwajin Ferry. Because thousands of Korean Catholics were beheaded atop the crag, townspeople came to call it Jeoldusan, meaning Beheading Mountain.
Whose relics are enshrined inside the crypt beneath Jeoldusan Church?
The subterranean Relic Crypt beneath the circular sanctuary houses twenty-eight marble reliquary niches containing the bodily remains of twenty-seven canonized Korean Catholic Saints (among the 103 canonized in 1984) together with one unknown martyr representing the unnamed victims cast into the Han River.
Who designed the distinctive circular roof and curved bell tower of Jeoldusan?
Completed in 1967 for the centenary of the 1866 martyrdoms, the church and museum were designed by pioneering Korean modernist architect Lee Hee-tae (1925 to 1981). Its circular sanctuary roof evokes the wide brim of a traditional Korean woven gat hat, while the rising curved bell tower recalls bound hands lifted in prayer.
How does Jeoldusan differ from the adjacent Yanghwajin Foreign Missionary Cemetery?
Jeoldusan atop the rock promontory is a Roman Catholic shrine and museum honoring Korean Catholic martyrs executed in 1866. Directly across the lane on the lower eastern slope lies Yanghwajin Foreign Missionary Cemetery, established in 1890 as the burial ground for more than 140 Western Protestant missionaries, doctors, and educators who served in modernizing Korea.
Why is Jeoldusan especially meaningful to Vietnamese Catholic pilgrims in Korea?
Because the Catholic Churches of Korea (103 canonized Martyrs, 1984) and Vietnam (117 canonized Martyrs, 1988) share strikingly parallel nineteenth-century histories of lay witness and martyrdom under Confucian dynasties, Vietnamese Catholic communities across greater Seoul regularly visit Jeoldusan for Lenten retreats and prayers.