Modern architecture of the Catholic Martyrs’ Memorial in Seoul

The park is in the center of Seoul and that alone is its great value. Any city needs greenery as much as it needs sewers. Without greenery to invigorate the air, the urban landscape is like an iron jungle or a labyrinth through which one Minotaur or another is wandering.

And there it is – a beautiful island inside an urban Moloch. Seosomun Park is well isolated from the dusty city by the railroad on one side and by a complex of tall buildings on the other. And this circumstance creates a particularly intimate atmosphere, extremely conducive to rest and reflection.

The architecture has created a peculiar, paradoxical situation: it’s hard to know whether the park belongs to the city or the life-giving nature. Resting inside the metropolis, the island of greenery is somehow mysteriously outside it – outside the realm of death. Which will undoubtedly make it the best center for meditation and religious worship. For crowded Seoul, the park is truly priceless. Like, for example, a bottle of cold water is priceless to a thirsty man in a scorching desert.

The main monument, dedicated to the 44 Catholic martyrs who gave their lives for the faith between 1801 and 1866. 44 stone columns, on which the massive roof rests, impersonate the sufferers. A bronze plaque set in stone tells the story of a hero who sacrificed his life for his beliefs. These columns are reminiscent of the stone Atlantes, about whom the Russian bard, Alexander Gorodnitsky sang: “The Atlanteans hold the sky in their stone hands”.

Many churches maintain their reputation only because of such “Atlanteans,” who in ancient times sacrificed themselves to save the faith and their own immortal souls. Ideological betrayal is sometimes worse than death.

Churches that don’t have their own martyrs for the faith, and don’t have a quality reputation, to tell you the truth. A church without martyrs is like a club of philosophical thinkers. How true is the metaphor of Gorodnitsky, who once said of these self-sacrificing toilers, the Atlanteans: “Their hard work is more important than any other work. Of them weaken some, and Heaven will fall…”

The second most important element of the park ensemble are the 14 chapels and the road which symbolizes the Way of the Cross. The chapels are a symbol of the forced stops made by the Savior during his arduous march to Golgotha.

In life, too, everyone has to stop and take a break between periods of frenetic activity. This is the important moment when there is no need to fuss, when you need to sit down and think, thoroughly and without haste, about the essence of your tumultuous activity: how much life and creativity correspond to the ultimate goal of any human life – gaining eternal life in that kingdom where hatred, suffering and tears never exist.