갈매못순교성지

Name: 갈매못순교성지
Address: 충청남도 보령시 오천면 오천해안로 610, KR
Telephone: +82-41-932-1311

Shrine

About this place

Galmaemot Martyrs’ Shrine is one of the principal martyr shrines cared for by the Catholic Diocese of Daejeon. It commemorates the martyrdom during the Byeongin Persecution of Bishop St. Antoine Daveluy, Fathers St. Martin-Luc Huin and St. Pierre Aumaître, St. Luke Hwang Seok-du, St. Joseph Jang Ju-gi, and other Catholics whose names have not been preserved. Its central identity is that of a pilgrimage site built around the actual coastal place of execution, where visitors can contemplate the faith of the martyrs and the history of persecution in the Korean Catholic Church.

The shrine provides spaces where pilgrims can remember that faith through Mass, prayer, veneration of relics, and the Stations of the Cross. It is also listed in Korea’s national heritage system as the “Boryeong Galmaemot Catholic Martyrdom Site,” giving the place significance not only as a Catholic shrine but also as a cultural heritage site that preserves a physical setting of Korean Catholic history.

Official source

History & origins

When the Byeongin Persecution began in 1866, Bishop Antoine Daveluy was arrested at Sin-ri. Hoping to prevent further suffering among Catholics, he urged Fathers Pierre Aumaître and Martin-Luc Huin to surrender. Luke Hwang Seok-du was also arrested, and the group was taken to Seoul and sentenced to death. Because a royal celebration was approaching and bloodshed near the capital was considered inauspicious, they were sent to Galmaemot in Boryeong, where a naval command was located. Joseph Jang Ju-gi, who had been imprisoned in Seoul, was made to accompany them.

The five were executed on the sandy shore at Galmaemot on 30 March 1866, which was Good Friday. Galmaemot’s role as a military and naval strategic point shows that this was not merely a commemorative site created later, but a historical place directly connected with the executions themselves. The Church subsequently preserved the place and developed it as a shrine honoring the faith of the martyrs.

Public heritage protection followed as well. Korea’s National Heritage Portal identifies the site as the “Boryeong Galmaemot Catholic Martyrdom Site” and records its designation or registration on 12 February 2013. Galmaemot thus stands both as a place of Catholic pilgrimage memory and as a historical site preserved within the wider cultural heritage of Korea.