The Sea Link Road in Gaehangjang of Incheon has earned fame as a “Historical and Cultural Pilgrimage Road” thanks to a series of century-old heritage sites related to the early days of Christianity in Korea.
All year round, pilgrims and tourists from home and abroad flock to the street to visit the monuments, including the site where the first Catholic missionary nuns arrived in 1885, Korea’s first Anglican cathedral and the Methodist Church, and Incheon’s first Catholic cathedral known as Dapdong Cathedral.
During the Christian Unity Octave from Jan. 18-25, when Christians across the globe pray for the unity of all Christians, many people throng to the street to visit the churches and other historical Christian sites.
A monument dedicated to four missionary nuns (two French and two Chinese) from the Sisters of St. Paul of Chartres congregation stands in front of Incheon Central Police Station.
The nuns arrived in Incheon on July 22, 1888, five years after the opening of Jemulpo Port. Their arrival marked a new beginning for Catholic religious life when Korea was under the rule of the long-reigning Joseon dynasty (1392-1910).
The site is home to a bronze sculpture by famed Korean sculptor Joseph Choi Jong-tae depicting the missionary nuns disembarking from a ship. A prayer: “For the greater glory of God” is also engraved on it, recalling a note from the travel diary of one of the pioneering nuns, Sister Zacharias.
Some 200 meters from the nuns’ monument stands the Korean Christianity 100th Anniversary Memorial Tower, which commemorates the missionary spirit of the Protestant missionaries who first set foot in Incheon in 1885.
The church was rebuilt in 1985, on the 100th anniversary of its founding.
At the entrance to the church are busts of Appenzeller, the second pastor, George H. Jones, and Reverend Kim Ki-beom, the first pastor not only in the Korean Methodist Church but also in the Korean Protestant Church. A restored building of the Jemulpo Wesleyan Chapel, Incheon’s first Western-style Protestant chapel, is also located next to the church.