Imdang-dong Church

History & origins

Catholic villages formed across the Yeongdong region as believers moved there to escape persecution, and an 1882 church census recorded Catholics living in the Samjeongpyeong community of Gangneung. On this foundation, Bishop Davred sought to establish another parish in the region, and the history of Imdang-dong Parish began when Father Yi Cheol-yeon moved to Geumgwang-ri in 1921 and began pastoral work there.

The parish moved for a time to Jumunjin in an effort to expand the mission and later returned to Geumgwang-ri. In 1934 it relocated to the Gangneung urban area, near its present site, and was known as Gangneung Parish. During the Korean War, land for the present church was acquired in 1951. The church was completed in 1955 and consecrated on November 23 of that year by Bishop Thomas Quinlan, receiving the dedication of St. Columban. When Okcheon-dong Parish was separated in 1974, the parish name was changed to Imdang-dong Parish.

The church completed in 1955 is regarded as a representative example of Catholic church architecture in Gangwon in the 1950s. Its central bell tower, pointed arches, buttresses, and other original features remain well preserved, and on February 19, 2010, it was registered as a National Registered Cultural Heritage. Subsequent repairs have continued to preserve the historic form. The history of Imdang-dong Catholic Church thus links the growth of Catholic villages in Yeongdong, the relocation and settlement of the parish, postwar church construction, and the preservation of its architectural heritage.