Gamgok Maegoe Virgin Mary Pilgrimage Site

History & origins

The Marian pilgrimage tradition of Gamgok began with the relocation of the parish and the Marian devotion of its first pastor, Fr. Camillus Bouillon of the Paris Foreign Missions Society. After being assigned to Bu-eong-gol Parish in Yeoju in 1894, he searched for a more suitable pastoral center and took notice of the former estate of Min Eung-sik on Maesan Hill near Janghowon. He prayed that if the property were obtained, he would dedicate the parish to the Blessed Virgin Mary and place it under the patronage of Our Lady of the Rosary. In May 1896 he acquired the house site and surrounding hill, and the parish community at Gamgok took root that same year.

The present Gothic-style church was built in 1930, and a statue of Our Lady of the Rosary made in Lourdes was placed at the center of the sanctuary. Bullet marks from the Korean War remain on the statue, making it a symbol in which memories of war and Marian devotion overlap. On January 5, 1996, the church building was designated a Tangible Cultural Heritage of Chungcheongbuk-do, preserving it not only as a place of faith history but also as an important example of modern Catholic architecture.

The Marian devotion sustained in the parish entered a new stage when the site received diocesan recognition as a shrine in 2006. Bishop Gabriel Jang Bong-hun of Cheongju formally approved Gamgok Catholic Church as the “Maegoe Marian Shrine,” expanding the local parish tradition of devotion to Our Lady of the Rosary into an official pilgrimage tradition for Catholics from beyond the region. The historical meaning of the shrine lies in this continuity: a devotion that began with a missionary's dedication to Mary was carried through the church, the community's memory, and eventually the diocesan shrine.