Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Beheaded Hill (Seoul)

This hill runs straight down into the Han river.
The building you can see at the top is actually a catholic church although it never used to be.
it is the site of a massive catholic massacre so a god place to put a church and museum huh?
We're not supposed to take pics in here but the art depicting the events is quite graphic so I was cheeky.

Many catholics were punished and tortured here cos the french upset the korean king.

Here are some of the things they did.
He decided the hill should be washed clean with catholic blood so he ordered all of them living in Seoul to be executed.
They were apparently a stain on the land.
There are statues and monuments everywhere to those who feel, those who fought the attrocities and those who helped educate the koreans in the catholic way.

I haven't tested but apparently there are always candles burning.
These are in the gardens outside. There are many of them but honestly I found these the funniest and wanted to start a create your own caption competition.
The guy on the cross with the swollen hands ( a bit exaggerated!) maybe about to hit those poor two underneath.
you can enlarge this picture and read about things here.


This guy helped the first christian university in Seoul to be formed. As you can see we're mates.

More reading material for you (though it may be the same - I can't remember as we went a few weeks ago)

The church is right behind us as all of this is on one small hill.
Quite literally beheaded hill

The korean name is Jeoldusan which means martyrs shrine.
Here are some general pics of Seoul I took just wondering around while we there.











4 comments:

Devil Mood said...

Hey Stevie!
Nice to see you with your mate in such curious places!
There's a lot to be seen in Korea, I see!
Thanks for the e-mail, I was wondering if you had given up on the western world ;)
But it's great to know that you're happy!!

Eric said...

Doesn't that building in the first two sort of look like a submarine? It could just be me.

Cathy said...

I haven't been by in awhile.
How is South Korea treating you? Your pictures are great,
Cathy

x said...

beheaded hill? i wouldn't be at ease there. it looks beautiful though.
take care Stevie. We miss you!