Myeongdong Cathedral’s pointed arches and brick walls brought Gothic architecture into Korea at the end of the nineteenth century. As the country’s first Roman Catholic parish church, it became both a spiritual center and a place closely connected to modern Korean civic and political history.
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The red brick and pointed arches give this church a Gothic profile, but its local history is equally distinctive. Construction began in 1892 and finished in 1898, making Myeongdong Cathedral Korea’s first Gothic church and the first Roman Catholic parish church in the country.
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UpgradeQuick facts
- Construction ran from 1892 to 1898.
- It was Korea’s first Gothic church and first Roman Catholic parish church.
- The cathedral is built of brick, unlike many stone Gothic churches.
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