Myeongnye Cathedral, Miryang

Myeongnye Cathedral, built in 1897, stands right beside the birthplace of the martyr Sin Seok-bok Marco (1828–1866), and is the earliest Catholic parish established in the Gyeongnam region. Sin Seok-bok was a salt merchant born in 1828 at Myeongnye-ri (Lot No. 1209); in 1866, during the Byeongin Persecution, a major crackdown on Catholics, he was arrested at Gasan in Gimhae and martyred at the provincial government office in Daegu. At his martyrdom he is said to have declared, 'Even if you release me, I will practise Catholicism again.' His remains are now enshrined in the Catholic cemetery at Jinyeong, across the river. Father Kang Seong-sam (1866–1903), the first parish priest of Myeongnye, was Korea's third ordained priest, after Father Kim Dae-geon and Father Choe Yang-eop. Father Kwon Yeong-jo, assigned to Myeongnye in 1926, dedicated a tile-roofed church building in 1928, but the building was completely destroyed by a typhoon in 1936, leaving only its foundation stones. The present building was reconstructed on a smaller scale in 1938, using the remains of the destroyed church. The parish church stands facing south on the slope of an isolated hill on the left bank of the lower Nakdonggang River. At the time, Susan, where Myeongnye Cathedral was sited, lay close to the Nakdonggang River and so had well-developed water and land transport. The building is five bays wide and two bays deep, with a single eave and a hipped roof. An entrance porch occupies the central bay of the façade, with an added gabled roof, giving the overall plan a T shape. The floor plan consists, from left to right, of a one-bay sacristy and a four-bay chapel. The altar stands at the left; inside, wooden posts and lintels separate the spaces used by men and women, with separate entrances for each. The bracket style uses only purlins with no bracket sets, and the upper frame is a three-purlin structure. The floor is finished with long wooden floorboards.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Miryang, Gyeongnam

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료