Places to Go... in Seoul!!! :-) # 32

<< the Oldest Chapel in Seoul-Yakhyeon Chapel >>
---Directly copied from Yakhyeon Chapel Official Website!!!(infor below!)

Designation:historic site No.252
Period: Joseon Dynasty,1892
Location:149-2 jungnim-dong, Jung-gu,seoul,korea

This is the first Western-style cathedral to be built in Korea. Construction
began in 1891 and was completed the following year. It is called Yakhyeon
Cathedral, which is the name of the hill between Malli-dong and Seoul
Railroad Station. Long ago the area was covered with fields of medicinal
herbs. and thus it was called yakhyeon, meaning "hill of medicinal herb
fields.'
After the conclusion of the Korea-France Friendship Treaty of 1886. Bishop
Doucet, the first official priest of the cathedral. prepared the site and was
In charge of construction, and Auxiliary Bishop Coste designed the
building. The cathedral was built with bricks Produced in Korea. and It is
approximately 32 meters long. 12 meters wide, and has a 22 meter-high
bell tower. Overall it is very elegant and with no complicated
ornamentation it evokes a feeling of solemnity.
This cathedral has great significance for the history of the Catholic Church
and the history of construction in Korea in that it is the first Western-style
church built in Korea. Also, although it is not a pure Gothic church, It is still
a brick Gothic church and has become the model for Korean church
construction .

Direction to the Yakhyeon Catholic Church from the incheon international airport.
---straight from Yakhyeon Chapel Official Website: http://www.yakhyeon.or.kr/