전옥서 터
Shrine
About this place
The former Jeonokseo site, near 41 Cheonggyecheon-ro in Jongno-gu, Seoul, is recognized by the Seoul Archdiocese as a Catholic historical site. Jeonokseo was a prison administration office under the Ministry of Justice during the Joseon period, and during the Catholic persecutions it became a place where believers who had undergone interrogation were confined and bore witness to their faith.
There is no church building on the site today; its character is that of an urban pilgrimage stop where visitors pray at a historical place. It forms part of the Seoul Archdiocese’s “Way of Life” pilgrimage route, linking it with sites such as Uigeumbu, the police bureaus, the Ministry of Justice, and the Seosomun execution ground.
History & origins
Jeonokseo was an office under the Joseon Ministry of Justice responsible for prisons and prisoners. During the Catholic persecutions, believers arrested and interrogated by bodies such as the police bureaus could be confined here after examination by the Ministry of Justice, continuing to face pressure to renounce their faith while awaiting judgment or punishment.
One of the best documented prisoners was Saint Peter Yi Ho-yeong. Arrested in 1835, he endured interrogation and punishment at the police bureau and Ministry of Justice before being imprisoned at Jeonokseo. After years of confinement, he died in the prison in 1838. Church sources also remember Saint Barbara Kim as a martyr who died amid the severe conditions of imprisonment there.
The site is preserved in the Seoul Archdiocese’s urban pilgrimage route as a place of prison witness. Its historical meaning is therefore distinct from execution grounds such as Seosomun or Jeoldusan: Jeonokseo recalls the faith that was maintained, and in some cases life that was lost, within the prison itself.
Sources
- 우리 성인을 만나다 11: 성 이호영 베드로 · 가톨릭굿뉴스
- 서울대교구 성지순례길: 순교성인과 함께 걷는 말씀, 생명, 일치의 길 · 가톨릭굿뉴스
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- 한국천주교주교회의 온라인 주소록
Diocese
서울대교구 (Archdiocese of Seoul)
Official website: https://aos.catholic.or.kr
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