Daealli Chapel of Heungeop Catholic Church, Wonju

This building is a wooden Catholic church built in the hanok style, a traditional Korean architectural form, by Bishop Mutel (1854–1933). During the Korean War it was used as barracks for the People's Army, and after the war as a distribution centre for American relief supplies. The interior consists of a hall made up of the nave and altar, a sacristy, and a vestibule at the main entrance, with a partition for confession set up in front of the sacristy door. It is historically valuable as the only gongso, a small chapel without a resident priest, surviving from the 1900s in the Wonju area. Built in the early 1900s as a timber-framed hanok church building, it is highly significant for the history of the Catholic Church in Korea. It is said that a gongso was first established here in 1892 while Father Le Merre was serving in the area, but its location is unknown. The present chapel is presumed to have been built between 1900 and 1906, and was consecrated by Bishop Mutel on 12 November 1910. The roof was later converted to tile in the 1950s, but as it could not bear the added weight it was restored to thatch, and in the 1970s it was changed to a slate roof (Wondong 100-Year History, 1999). According to Wondong 100-Year History, a priest's room was added around 1910, and according to the testimony of the chapel's caretaker, two bays were added in the 1950s, the last of which was repaired in the 1970s; these dates broadly correspond to the roof repairs recorded in Wondong 100-Year History. In the 1950s Father Yang Dae-seok converted the thatched roof to tile, but as the roof load increased it was restored to thatch; in the 1970s it was converted to a slate roof; and in March 1986 the walls were repaired and the windows and doors replaced with aluminium frames.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Wonju, Gangwon

Designation

Registered Cultural Heritage · 국가등록문화유산