Yeosan Village Grove Sungyo Fortress Site

Yeosan Village Grove Martyrs' Shrine is located in the middle of paddy fields, about 500 m from the centre of Yeosan-myeon in the direction of Yeosan High School. The shrine consists of a martyrs' statue, a signboard beside a cross, toilets and a car park, and is enclosed by a wire-mesh fence. It is surrounded by rice paddies, with National Road No. 1 passing to the north-west and villages formed to the east, west and south. Following the access road, there is a car park on the left and, on the right, a stele announcing the Yeosan Martyrs' Shrine. Further along the access road there are toilets, and to their right a rest area and a drinking fountain. Beyond a lawn stands an information board, and above a flight of steps are the cross and the martyrs' statue. During the Byeongin Persecution of 1866, Catholics in Jeolla-do were executed mainly in Jeonju, Yeosan and Naju; in 1866 executions took place chiefly in Jeonju, and in 1868 in Yeosan. At that time Jeolla-do had five garrisons, jinyeong, suppression garrisons: the front garrison in Suncheon-bu, the left garrison in Unbong-hyeon, the right garrison in Naju-mok, the rear garrison in Yeosan-hyeon, and the central garrison in Jeonju; the topo-sa, or suppression commissioner, concurrently served as garrison commander and held the power of capital punishment. During the Byeongin Persecution of 1866, Catholics were also arrested in Yeosan, and from 1868 twenty-three of them — including Kim Seong-cheom, Kim Myeon-eon and Kim Jeong-gyu — were martyred in various ways: by baekjisa, suffocation by pasting wet paper over the face, at the site in front of the local government office; by hanging on the gallows at the prison site beside Baedari Bridge; and by beheading at the market and the nearby village grove. This is only the number recorded; including believers martyred without any record, the true number is said to be far higher — second only to the village grove at Jeonju in the number of martyrs it produced.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Iksan, Jeonbuk

Designation

Provincial Monument · 시도기념물