Uijeongbu Cathedral

In a residential street near Uijeongbu Station stands a small stone church wrapped in ivy. It was built in 1953, as the Korean War was ending, with donations from Catholic soldiers of the US Army stationed in Uijeongbu, and today it is preserved as the "historic church" in the grounds of the cathedral of the Catholic Diocese of Uijeongbu. It is a rare chance to see up close how churches were built in Korea straight after the war.

Stone laid on the ruins of war

The parish grew out of an early Catholic community in the Yangju area and a church built at Deokjeong-ri in Yangju in the 1930s. In 1945 the parish moved to Uijeongbu and used a repaired hanok, a traditional Korean house, as a temporary church, but it burned down during the Korean War. As the fighting drew to a close, Father Lee Gye-gwang (John) built a new church with the help of Father Rogeski, a chaplain of the US I Corps then based in Uijeongbu, and it was consecrated in August 1953. The building was paid for by Catholic soldiers of I Corps, as a plaque at the entrance still records.

Why stone

Most churches of the time were built in red brick, but this one is made of granite quarried at Deokjeong-ri in Yangju. According to accounts from the time, stone simply worked out cheaper than brick. Local masons dressed the blocks, and the same workmanship can be seen in the Yangju county office built around the same years. The interior was simplified, without rows of columns, but the bell tower and façade keep a classical church form, typical of a period when churches were meant to look solid as fortresses. The building is a designated Gyeonggi Province cultural heritage site (No. 99).

What to look out for

• The historic church: look for the pointed bell tower, the arched doorway and the ivy-covered stone walls. Inside, you take your shoes off on a wooden floor with small chairs and stained-glass windows.
• The entrance plaque: it records that the church was built with donations from American Catholic soldiers.
• The new church: next door is a much larger church completed in 2003; when the Diocese of Uijeongbu was created in 2004, this parish became its cathedral.
• The back garden: a statue of St Andrew Kim Dae-geon, the Stations of the Cross and a small pond.

Mother church of northern Gyeonggi

Uijeongbu Cathedral is known as the mother parish from which many parishes in Uijeongbu, Yangju and Dongducheon grew. In 1957, the first group of the Legion of Mary, a Catholic lay association, in what was then the Archdiocese of Seoul was founded here. The small stone church that rose again with the help of American soldiers after the war became, half a century later, the cathedral of a new diocese.

Tripto tips

• Getting there: the church is about 400 m west of Uijeongbu Station on Seoul Subway Line 1, an easy walk. The address is 27 Sinheung-ro 265beon-gil, Uijeongbu.
• Etiquette: this is a working church. Avoid taking photos during Mass and keep your voice down inside.
• Time needed: 30 minutes to 1 hour is enough for the historic church and the garden.
• Best season: the stone walls look their best in summer, when the ivy is thick, and in autumn, when it turns red.