The Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary of Namyeung (南陽聖母聖地/남양성모성지) Korea

The Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary of Namyeung (南陽聖母聖地/남양성모성지), also called "Rosary Hill" is in Korea.  It is 43km south to Seoul in Hwaseong (華城/화성) of Namyangdong (南陽洞/남양).  It is in the area of Suwon (水原/수원시)in Gyeonggi-do (京畿道/경기도).

At its official website, there are details in Korean and English to highlight the significance of this site as a pilgrimage stop.  Below I attempt to summarize some of them:

(a) Dedicated to Mary: It is the first site in Korea especially dedicated to the Holy Mother and was designated as a Holy Site on 7 October, the feast day of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Rosary, in 1991.

(b) A Shrine: Historically, it is an execution site of Korean Martyrs during the 1866 Byeongin-nyeon Persecution  (丙寅年迫害).

(c) Its geographical design, from an aerial view, is like that of an icon of Holy Mother, the Our Lady of Vladimir.  The icon has been agreed as a high quality artistic piece surviving from the period of Byzantine.  As there was no master plan in the initial design of this site, this resemblance is considered a miracle contributed to special meaning to this site.

The aerial view of the site on the left and the icon of Our Lady of Vladimir on the right (http://www.namyangmaria.org/en/images/contentimg5.jpg)

(d) Rosary Path: The concept was based on the dynamics of the "4-Hour Rosary Prayer Movement" devoted to peace.  A half-a-mile 20-Decade Rosary Road is built with giant rosary beads by the road side for praying rosary.

(e) Statue of Holy Mother: Is is a highlight on the Rosary Road.

Statue of Mary
(http://www.namyangmaria.org/en/images/contentimg6.jpg)

(f) Way of the Cross: Apart from the Rosary, one other prayer activities here is to walk the Way of Cross with Mary, to experience the pain and suffering of Jesus and that of the Holy Mother at each station.  The path is paved with pebbles for barefoot walkers and each station is also equipped for easy kneeling in prayer.

(g) Garden of Merciful Jesus: At the end of the Way of the Cross, there locates the Garden of Merciful Jesus inspired by Pope John Paul II as in his speech during his canonisation of Sister Faustina, the faithful disciple of merciful God, "The message of mercy is not new, but in an era of violence and war Sister Maria Faustina is a gift of God for our age."  There stands the statue of Divine Mercy (described by Sister Faustina as "the vessel that draws the water of grace from the well"), as well as the crown of thorns, the nail and hammer, the hands and feet nailed to the cross, the spear-pierced heart of Suffering Jesus, and sculpture of the Holy Mother's "Pieta" and the busts of Saint Faustina and of Pope John Paul II.

(h) Pray for Life Protection:  There is a statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe beside the Tomb of Aborted Children for a "continuous prayer movement to the atonement for an prevention of sinful abortions."  It was also explained that "Guadalupe means 'to smite the serpent's head'" with the serpent referred as abortion.

The address of the site is 112 sanctuaries in Hwaseong Namyang Suwon (contact: 031-356-5880).  Please see below for the website.  There are also videos in various languages posted.

Reference (and photos):
The Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary of Namyeung (남양성모성지)
http://www.namyangmaria.org/index_en.htm

Theotokos Vladimir (Our Lady of Vladimir)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theotokos_of_Vladimir

Solmoe Shrine (松山聖地/솔뫼성지) at the birthplace of the first Korean Catholic priest

Solmoe Shrine (松山聖地/솔뫼성지) is located in Naepo (內浦地區) of Dangjin (唐津) in Chungcheongnam-do (忠清南道/충청남도 ).   It is within the Diocese of Daejeon in Korea.  Naepo is at the western shore about 100 m south of Seoul (about 2 hours' ride by bus or train).  The name "Naepo" means a bay near the sea or a lake and "Solmoe" means a hill with a pine forest.

Solmoe is an important area for Catholics in Korea as it was the birthplace of Korea's first Catholic priest: St. Andrew Kim Dae-geon (聖金大建安德烈).  He was from a Catholic family with his great-grandfather, Pius Kim Jin-hu, his uncle, Andrew Kim Jong-han, and his father, Ignatius Kim Je-jun, all martyrs for their faith. The Kim clan produced a total of eleven martyrs.

St. Andrew Kim Dae-geon was born on 21 August 1821 and baptised in 1835 at age 16 by a French priest Pierre Philibert Maubant.  He then walked to Macao to study Catholicism and was ordained as a priest in Shanghai by Jean Joseph Ferreol in 1845.  He returned to Korea in October 1845 together with Ferreol and priest Marie Nicolas Antoine Daveluy to start his missionary work.  He died in September in 1846.

In 1846, he was arrested by Joseon government authorities on Sunwi-do Island, Hwanghae-do and hanged on the Saenamteo execution grounds in Seoul on September 16, 1846 at the age of 25, 13 months his ordination.  He was canonised by Pope John Paul II in Seoul in 1984.

The 6th Asian Youth Day in 2014 had its opening mass held at Solmoe on 13 August and Pope Francis met with youth delegates from various Asian areas at Solmoe place in Korea on 15 August for the 6th Asia Youth Day.  On 16 August 2014, Pope Francis beatified 124 martyrs in Gwanghwamun (光化門/광화문) of Gyeongbokgung Palace (景福宮/경복궁) in Seoul, and among the 124, 49 are from this coastal Naepo area.

Pope Franicis visited Solmoe and Haemi in Naepo 

Reference:
Birthplace of Korean Catholicism, Solmoe.  Visit Korea.
http://www.korea.net/NewsFocus/Society/view?articleId=119546

2014 Pastoral Visit of Pope Francis to Korea.
http://popekorea.catholic.or.kr/en/schedule/sch-sub01.asp

2014 Asian Youth Day
http://www.ayd2014.org/eng/

Yakhyeon Cathedral (藥峴聖堂/약현성당) - the first catholic church in Korea

The name of the church, Yakhyeon, is probably the pronunciation of the Korean "약현" or 藥峴.  "성당" means church or cathedral in Korean.  It is located in the administrative district called Jungnim-dong (中林洞 ; 중림동).  Jungnim-dong is a dong in the neighbourhood of Jung-gu in Seoul.  The church was named after "Yakjeonhyeon" (藥田峴,) meaning the original location being a hilly area covered with medicinal herbs. It was shortened to "Yakhyeon" and referred to the area between Malli-dong and Seoul Station.

Yakhyeon Cathedral (藥峴聖堂)

Yakhyeon Cathedral is an important place for Catholic pilgrimage in Korea for two reasons.

First, it is the first catholic church built in Korea.  It was originally a school set up by the then Bishop Blanc and the Paris Foreign Missions Society in 1887 for teaching christianity in Korea.  With the expanding number of Catholics, the then Bishop Mutel decided a church was to be built and the foundation stone was laid in October 1891.  The construction was completed in September 1892 and consecration carried out in April 1893. There was a fire in February 1998 that brought the church into ashes. It was then refurbished and reopened to the public on 17 September in 2009.

Its opening was an important historical landmark in Korea as the freedom for the public to become Catholics was in 1886 when a treaty was signed between France and the then Joseon Dynasty of Korea.  Before that there was ongoing oppression and persecution against catholics since in 1784, when Yi Sunghun (李承薰;이승훈; 1756 - 1801) was baptized in China and marked the official beginning of the Catholicism in Korea.

As some of the beliefs and practices advocated by the Church were not acceptable to the then governing Joseon Dynasty, such as ancestral worship, there were ongoing persecutions in the 100 years in between.  Three most important ones were: Sinyu Persecution  (辛酉迫害) in 1801, Gihae Persecution (己亥迫害in 1839 and Byeongin Persecution (丙寅迫害) in 1866.  These persecutions resulted in more than 8000 deaths in the Korean Catholic history.

On 6 May 1984, the Pope John Paul II canonized 103 previously beatified Korean martyrs (79 beatified in 1925 and 24 more in 1968) in Yeouido (汝矣島/여의도), Seoul, South Korea. Their feast day is 20 September. Korea now has the fourth largest number of saints in the Catholic world.

Seosomun Memorial (西小門殉教者紀念堂）

This history of martyrdom is related to the second reason of the significance of the Yakhyeon Cathedral.  Across the Cathedral, there is the Seosomun Park (西小門公園서소문 공원seosomun gong-won).  The crossroads outside Seosomun was one of the official execution ground in the Joseon Dynasty.  Among the 103 saints, 44 were executed in this place.  There is a memorial in the Park, the Seosomun Martyrs Memorial Center (西小門殉教者紀念堂서소문순교성지）built to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the church.

Pope Francis visited the Yakhyeon Cathedral and Seosomun on 16 August 2014 during his visit to Korea for the 6th Asia Youth Day.

Reference:
Visit Seoul: Yakhyeon Church
(http://www.visitseoul.net/en/article/article.do?_method=view&m=0004003002027&p=03&art_id=359&lang=en;
http://www.visitseoul.net/cb/article/article.do?_method=view&m=0004003002002&p=03&art_id=359&lang=cb)

History 100.  Pope canonises 103 Korean Martyrs.   http://www.historychannel.com.au/classroom/day-in-history/589/pope-canonizes-103-korean-martyrs