Myeongdong Cathederal
Updated: Jan 18, 2025
Name of Building: Myeongdong Cathedral
Architect/Designer: Priest, Eugène Jean George Coste
Date: 1898
Materials: Twenty Types of Bricks
Location: Myeongdong, Seoul
Myeongdong Cathedral has many names. It is also known as The Cathedral Church of the Virgin Mary of the Immaculate Conception and Chong-Hyen. The Myeongdong Cathedral was the first largest Roman Catholic Church built in Korea. This Cathedral church has walked with Korean history endlessly. During the Joseon Dynasty in Korea, the priest, Eugène Jean George Coste, started planning to build a church. This was a challenge since the king, Jeongjo banned and declared Catholicism as an “evil practice” in the Joseon Dynasty. Despite this, the construction ceremony began in May 1892, and on May 29, 1898, Myeongdong Cathedral was officially completed. However, priest Coste died two years before it was completed, and priest Pwanel took over and finished the church.
On the Liberation Day in 1945, the Cathedral’s name, Chong-Hyen was changed to Myeongdong Cathedral. In the 1970s and 1980s, the Myeongdong Cathedral was the most important church for the democratic movement and the expansion of human rights in Korea. It was also one of the hopes and protections Korean civilians found during the Korean Wars.
The Myeongdong Cathedral is a symbolic religious building. The cathedral was built with twenty types of Korean bricks and was the first Gothic-style church in Korea. During the time the Myeongdong church was built, there were no engineers or architects who could build Western-style buildings. However, in China, architects, carpenters, bricklayers, and plasterers knew Western architectural style. Chinese bricklayers began constructing the cathedral with red and gray bricks. The cathedral's roof is 23 meters tall, the bell tower is 45 meters tall, and the church's floor is a Latin cross. The windows use pointed arches to emphasize a Gothic style.
I chose the Myeongdong Cathedral because when we think of Korean architecture, we usually think of traditional temples with a variety of colors and traditional palaces where kings, princes, and queens lived. However, despite being a Roman Catholic Cathedral and the first Gothic-style church in Korean history, this church has rapidly become a part of Korea's identity and culture. This church is unique and special to Korea because it was the first Western-style church that people even called the “pointed house” in Korean, “뾰족집". During this time, Koreans had never seen such a large pointed building with simple colors yet it was notable because all the architecture they built was horizontal and long with bright colors.
The first official Roman Catholic Church was the Yakhyeon Church, however, the Myeongdong Cathedral was the first parish in Korea where priests and ministers resided.
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