Nabawi Shrine

History & origins

On October 12, 1845, Bishop Jean-Joseph Ferréol, Fr. Antoine Daveluy, St. Andrew Kim Taegon, and a group of Korean Catholics arrived at this place. For Fr. Kim, it was the moment when he first stepped onto Korean land after receiving priestly ordination, and Nabawi came to preserve the memory of that return journey.

After a local Catholic community took root, the building that became the present church was completed in 1907. It was initially a church strongly shaped by traditional Korean wooden architecture, serving as a place for the liturgy and the life of the local Catholic community.

Between 1916 and 1917, the church underwent a major alteration. Parts of the earthen walls were replaced with brick, a Gothic-style brick bell tower was added to the façade, and exterior arcades were constructed, creating the East-West hybrid appearance seen today. The wooden interior structure and traces of the former separation of men’s and women’s seating preserve elements of its earlier form. The church was later designated Historic Site No. 318 and has been protected as a place that preserves both the memory of the landing and the history of modern Catholic architecture in Korea.

The preservation value of Nabawi Church is not limited to its association with the landing. A single building records the transformation of a hanok-style church as it incorporated Western brick architectural elements, while traces of older seating arrangements and liturgical practice remain inside. Nabawi is therefore preserved as a place where the history of St. Andrew Kim Taegon’s return and the development of Korean Catholic architecture overlap.