Sabti Shrine

History & origins

Sapti, or Sapgogae, developed as an area of Catholic villages when believers entered the mountains to escape persecution in the late Joseon period. Around the pass between Sangcheon-ri in Hongsan-myeon and Geumji-ri in Naesan-myeon, Catholics lived scattered through valleys on both sides of the ridge. They crossed the pass to exchange news and continue their life of faith. Diocesan materials also describe connections with the Catholic village at Doangol on the opposite side. The mountainous terrain offered refuge from persecution, but it also required the believers to stay in contact, share what they needed, and actively maintain community life.

Among those who lived here up to the Byeongin Persecution of 1866, two figures closely connected with St. Luke Hwang Seok-du are especially remembered: his adopted son John Hwang Cheon-il and his nephew Andrew Hwang Gi-won. The Catholic village is said to have developed after Hwang Seok-du had the two men settle at Sapti. After Hwang Seok-du was martyred at Galmaemot on March 30, 1866, Hwang Cheon-il and Hwang Gi-won recovered his body and buried it at Sapti. The exact location of the grave is no longer known, but the memory that the saint’s remains were once laid here gives Sapti particular historical significance in the faith. In this sense, Sapti’s history brings together the story of an individual saint and the story of a community, from family relationships and village life through the burial that followed martyrdom.

During forest clearing in 1964, an earthenware jar containing religious objects from the persecution period was discovered at a pottery site known locally as “Jeumteo.” The find became evidence that Sapti is not known only through tradition, but also preserves material traces of the daily life of Catholics who once lived there in hiding. The religious objects provide a tangible reminder that people practicing the faith under persecution actually lived in these mountains.

Today Sapti revives the historical relationship between the old Catholic villages through a walking pilgrimage route connected with Doangol. Paths once crossed by believers seeking refuge from persecution and maintaining contact with one another have become routes on which pilgrims remember the faith of St. Luke Hwang Seok-du and the Catholics of the hidden villages. Although the era and purpose have changed, the path itself continues to connect the memory of the faith community, bringing the history and present life of Sapti naturally together.