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Gongseri Catholic Church is the main Catholic parish, which was built in 1894 on the hill of Gongseri, Inju-myeon that connects Asanman Bay to Sapgyocheon. Early missionaries landed here to begin their work. A common house was used as a church in the early years however, in 1897 a rectory was built and in 1922, the main church was created.
This was the first church in Chungcheongnam-do and it was divided in different locations such as Gongju, Anseong, Onyang and Dunpo. The grounds have three graveyards of prosecuted martyrs, 4626 sq.ft. area parish and rectory, retreat house, meeting room as well as beautiful view of the green including an old zelkova tree.
for more information, refer to http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=264566
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Korea is one of the oldest continuous civilizations in the world with over five thousand years of history. According to the original creation myth, the world we live in today is the work of the Heavenly Prince Hwanung, whose father was the King of Heaven.The Heavenly Prince asked his father to give him some land to govern, so the Father sent him down to Mount Taebaek. With him the Prince brought the Minister of Clouds, the Earl of Rain and the Chancellor of Wind. They also brought three thousand helpers.Under the shade of a sandalwood tree the Prince founded a holy city called Sinsi, the City of God. He put his Ministers in charge of three hundred and sixty areas of human culture, teaching them to grow crops and to make laws concerning what is good and what is evil.A tiger and a bear living in a nearby cave saw this city and desperately wanted to become human. Every day they came to the sandalwood tree at the center of the city to pray fervently for becoming humans.Hwanung saw their devotion and gave them instructions to remain in the cave and fast for one month, eating nothing but garlic and mugwort. The tiger was too impatient to stand the long and boring days in the cave, so he gave up and left, but Bear maintained the fast. At the end of the month she was transformed into a beautiful woman who became the mother of the Korean people.Her first son was Don-gun, the First King of the Korean people. When Don-Gun passed on the throne to his own son, he became a Mountain God. It is interesting that mountain gods are still worshipped today in Korea.Text by Steve Smith.
