Gusan Sacred Site

Overview

Gusan Shrine is a shrine belonging to the Suwon Diocese in Mangwol-dong, Hanam-si, Gyeonggi-do. It is the hometown of Saint Antonio Kim Seong-u, one of the 103 Korean martyr saints, and is located in the Catholic village of Gusan, which produced many martyrs in the persecution era. In the shrine’s martyrs’ cemetery, 9 graves of Saint Kim Seong-u and his family and martyrs from Gusan have been arranged as true graves and cenotaphs. It was proclaimed a shrine in 1980, and listed in 2001 as Hanam City Local Heritage No. 4.

History

According to the Encyclopedia of Korean Culture, the Catholic faith spread to Mangwol-dong, Hanam-si, formerly part of Gwangju, Gyeonggi-do, in the 1830s, and the first people to accept the faith were the brothers of Saint Kim Seong-u. Through the missionary activity of these brothers, a faith community was formed in Gusan, and before 1839, the Gusan mission chapel was established by Father Maubant (Maubant, Peter Na) of the Paris Foreign Missions Society. According to the GoodNews shrine introduction, Saint Kim Seong-u, born in Gusan, was baptized at age 36 together with his two younger brothers and brought relatives and neighbors into the faith, making this area a Catholic village. For a time he served as lay leader attending Father Yu Bang-je and preached the Gospel to the whole village, and when Father Maubant entered the country in 1836, he hosted him in his own house. A Catholic News article reports that Dallet’s Church History records that “when Father Maubant entered the country in 1836, Kim Seong-u prepared a small mission chapel in his house and, in summer, attended Father Maubant, taught him our language and helped his mission.”

According to the GoodNews shrine introduction, Saint Kim Seong-u was arrested in the Gihae Persecution in 1839 but was narrowly released, and in 1840 he was seized again with his family and transferred to the Hanyang Podocheong. Transferred from the Podocheong to the Hyeongjo and tortured, the saint did not yield in faith, answering the judge who forced apostasy, “I am a Catholic. Whether I live or die, I will live as a Catholic and die as a Catholic.” After martyrdom, his remains were recovered by his son Ambrose Kim Seong-hui and others, buried in his hometown, and on May 30, 1927, exhumed and taken through the Yongsan Sacred Heart Seminary and Myeongdong Church to the relic chamber under the Jeoldusan Martyrs Memorial Church. The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture gives 1841 as the martyrdom year of Saint Kim Seong-u, differing from the GoodNews account.

According to the Encyclopedia of Korean Culture, in the Gihae Persecution (1839) Kim Seong-u and his younger brother Augustine Kim Deok-sim were arrested and martyred, and after 1866, in the Byeongin Persecution, Seong-u’s younger brother Peter Alcantara Kim Yun-sim and only son Ambrose Kim Seong-hui were martyred again. After the persecutions ended, the Gusan faith community was under the pastoral jurisdiction of Yakhyeon Church (now Jungnim-dong Church), Jonghyeon Church (now Myeongdong Church), and Baekdong Church (now Hyehwa-dong Church), then after 1948 belonged to Sindang-dong Church in Seoul, and after 1958 to Cheonho-dong Church. When the Suwon Diocese was established in 1963, it moved from the Archdiocese of Seoul to the Suwon Diocese and became a mission chapel of Sinjang Church.

Kim Seong-u was beatified as a Blessed in 1925, and in May 1927 his remains were exhumed from the grave at No. 387, Mangwol-dong, Gusan, and moved to the Yongsan Sacred Heart Seminary. The faithful of the Gusan mission chapel preserved the grave of Blessed Kim Seong-u thereafter, and on May 30, 1949 erected a martyrdom monument before the grave. This is the present Gusan Shrine. On June 22, 1979, the Gusan mission chapel was raised to a church, and Father Ignatius Gil Hong-gyun took office as the first pastor. Father Gil Hong-gyun repaired the mission chapel built in May 1956 and used it as Gusan Church while planning a new church, but did not achieve it, and instead began developing the area of Antonio Kim Seong-u’s grave as a shrine. As a result, in 1980 the blessing ceremony of Gusan Shrine was held, officiated by Bishop Kim Nam-su, the 2 Bishop of Suwon, and when Blessed Kim Seong-u was canonized as a saint on May 6, 1984, the shrine development project began in earnest. The GoodNews shrine introduction states that Antonio Kim Seong-u was raised to sainthood in May 1984 by Pope Saint John Paul 2.

Architecture and Space

According to a Catholic News article, the shrine’s main gate piles flat roof tiles layer upon layer to represent a turtle’s back, with flower- and cross-shaped ceramic pieces inlaid on top. Inside the gate is the statue of Our Lady, Help of Christians, surrounded by ceramic works. This statue of mother and child was sculpted by artist Francesco Kim Se-jung based on Our Lady as seen in a dream by the first pastor, Father Gil Hong-gyun, and dedicated in 1983. To the left of the Marian statue, on the rosary path, white and blue ceramic beads signifying the Lord’s Prayer and Hail Mary rest on jars, and the jars are sculptures commemorating the life in which faithful during the persecution era earned a living by trading salted shrimp. Inside the shrine there is also an onggi kiln.

On the right path stands the tiled Andang Gate. ‘Andang’ is the Chinese transliteration of Antonio, and past the gate lies the martyrs’ cemetery. In the cemetery, the graves of eight martyrs including Saint Kim Seong-u are preserved as true graves and cenotaphs. The shrine church stands beside the martyrs’ graves, with 16 windows embodying the instruments of torture and punishments of the persecution era on its outer walls, and the walls are made of layered roof tiles. On the church’s outer wall hangs a bronze relief of Father Maubant. Above the central altar are a cross, a Marian statue, and martyrs’ portraits painted in traditional style.

Meanwhile, the old Gusan Church is a brick building of 131 square meters built in 1956. According to the Catholic News (August 11, 2024 edition, posted in the GoodNews archive), the faithful jointly cultivated rented rice paddies, harvested 100 straw bags of rice to raise funds, and men and women of all ages collected gravel and sand along the Han River to raise the building. Its exterior is brick Gothic architecture and its interior is hall-type with 2 rows of long benches facing the altar, showing the church architecture popular after the 6·25 War. When demolition loomed with the promotion of the Hanam Misa District development in May 2009, the parish promoted a relocation preserving its original form in 2016. Supporting inner and outer walls and floors with H-beams and placing the whole building on roller wheels, it was moved up to 12m per day with wires, pulleys and motors, said to be the first case in Korea of moving a brick building without dismantling it. The distance is described as 220m in the Catholic News 2024 article, about 200m in the 2023 article, and the 2023 article states it was moved from No. 358-3, Mangwol-dong to its present location at No. 833, Mangwol-dong.

On March 28, 2023, Gyeonggi-do newly designated Hanam Gusan Church as a Gyeonggi-do Registered Cultural Heritage. Gusan Church is No. 1 among Hanam City cultural properties registered as Gyeonggi-do Registered Cultural Heritage, after Hanam City pushed for National Registered Cultural Heritage registration in 2021 but was rejected and proceeded with Gyeonggi-do registration. The Gyeonggi Cultural Heritage Committee evaluated it as a building well reflecting its era, showing the localization process of mission-chapel architecture and newly presenting a modern heritage preservation methodology through relocation preserving original form.

Faith Meaning and Visit Context

Gusan Shrine is the place where Saint Kim Seong-u and 8 martyrs were born and buried, a land of faith where descendants long lived forming a Catholic village. It was proclaimed a shrine in 1980 and listed in 2001 as Hanam City Local Heritage No. 4. The Catholic News reports that amid today’s surroundings enclosed by high-rise apartments, it prompts reflection on the meaning of a martyrs’ shrine.

Related Places and People

• Saint Antonio Kim Seong-u: lay leader from Gusan and one of the 103 martyr saints. Beatified in 1925, canonized on May 6, 1984.
• Augustine Kim Deok-sim, Peter Alcantara Kim Yun-sim, Ambrose Kim Seong-hui: family martyrs of Saint Kim Seong-u. The brothers Kim Deok-sim and Kim Yun-sim, and Kim Seong-hui, have now been selected as Servants of God and their beatification and canonization are being promoted (Encyclopedia of Korean Culture).
• Gusan Church: parish near Gusan Shrine. Its pastoral area is Mangwol-dong and Misa-dong and parts of Pungsan-dong and Deokpung-dong in Hanam-si.
• Father Ignatius Gil Hong-gyun: first pastor of Gusan Church. He began shrine development.
• Father Paul Jeong Jong-deuk: first priest in charge of Gusan Shrine (Encyclopedia of Korean Culture). He was still in charge of the shrine at the time of the Catholic News 2025 article.
• Father Maubant (Maubant): Paris Foreign Missions Society missionary who entered Joseon in 1836. He stayed at Kim Seong-u’s house.
• Namhansanseong Shrine: according to the Suwon Diocese guide, among the Namhansanseong martyrs whose deeds are known, 36 include Kim Deok-sim, Kim Yun-sim, Kim Seong-hui, Kim Cha-hui, Kim Gyeong-hui and Kim Yun-hui, relatives of Antonio Kim Seong-u.

References and Sources

1. GoodNews Catholic Internet, Gusan Shrine (Shrines and Historic Sites). Life and martyrdom of Kim Seong-u, burial and exhumation of remains, canonization in 1984, 9 graves in the martyrs’ cemetery, shrine introduction.
   https://m.catholic.or.kr/web/holyplace/?seq=2316
2. Encyclopedia of Korean Culture, Gusan Church. Formation of the Gusan faith community, establishment of the Gusan mission chapel, changes of affiliation, martyrdom monument in 1949, elevation to church in 1979, shrine blessing in 1980, jurisdiction and martyr information.
   https://encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Article/E0076777
3. Catholic News, Gusan Church of Suwon Diocese, selected as Gyeonggi-do Registered Cultural Heritage (2023-04-09). Background and evaluation of Gyeonggi-do Registered Cultural Heritage selection, relocation preserving original form.
   https://www.catholictimes.org/article/202304040170087
4. Catholic News, [Suwon Diocese Church Pilgrimage] Gusan Shrine Church (2025-09-07). Shrine proclamation, local heritage listing, composition of main gate, Marian statue, rosary path, Andang Gate, cemetery and church.
   https://www.catholictimes.org/article/20250831500022
5. GoodNews Archive, Suwon Diocese Church Pilgrimage 1: Old Gusan Church of the 2 Vicariate (Suwon Diocese edition of Catholic News 2024-08-11). Construction of the old church, architectural style, relocation work in 2016.
   https://home.catholic.or.kr/pdsm/bbs_view.asp?Page=20&SORT=C&id=198702&menu=4830&num=386
6. Suwon Diocese, Shrine Introduction Namhansanseong Shrine. Inclusion of Antonio Kim Seong-u’s family among Namhansanseong martyrs.
   https://www.casuwon.or.kr/holyland/intro/11