The Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary of Namyang — Attraction in Hwaseong-si

design by Mario Botta and photo by Yohan Jung. Architect Botta (Prominent Swiss Architect) has now designed quite a few buildings in Korea. He has designed Leeum, Kyobo Tower, Agora in Jeju Island. This great Cathedral of St Mary is his fourth project in Korea. The two light shafts mark the soaring sacrifice of martyrs and the corresponding presence of God. They mark the ground, in a prayful way. Inside, the beautiful roofwork will make this church one of the finest religious buildings in Korea. Botta, an architect of Ticino, Swiss, whose early works concentrate on the concepts of site, wall, slit, massing, brickwork, etc. best performs his skills in house, skyscraper, museum, and church. His Kyobo Tower is skyscraper par excellence in the district of Gangnam Station, Seoul Korea. The first red brick tile skyscraper in Seoul bespeaks powerfully that a stone facade skyscraper could be as much beautiful, if not more, as a glass box skyscrapers that are dominant in Gangnam. Since the completion of Leeum (Museum by Samsung family)and Kyobo Tower, we wanted to see his church design realized in Korea because we knew that Botta is best in his churches. We are glad this pivotal project if Botta at a pivotal Catholic martyr site will be realized soon. Korean architect Manwon Han (who worked at Botta’s office for four years when he was young) was the architect of the record and a collborating partner of Botta. Botta plans to design another museum in southern part of Korean peninsula. We anticipate this museum. The site will also house a tea house designed by Peter Zumthor (another Pritzker receipient). That will be Zumthor’s first project in Korea. We also sincerely wish to see more of Zumthor’s works in near future. Herzog & de Meuron’s new museum will also be executed in Cheongdamdong soon. The trilogy by first-class Swiss architects will make Korea-Swiss relationship much tighter...

Great! But, there are some major issues that need attention.

Its great but they need benches for old people, pregnant women, and young people to sit on. There are no benches to sit on and pray which is unacceptable IMHO.

Also, they need to put a gate around the property to protect it. Why they haven't escapes me! Even the Vatican has a wall! A gate would enable them to install benches.

Also, the chapel's lighting is broken and not in use. Seems like a waste of space and not managed properly. Very sad!

Motorcycles are frequently all over the sidewalks and so are trucks which makes the property potentially unsafe for small children praying or playing with...

Strongly recommend visiting the site and the church. Better if you can attend the mass (held in Korean).

The details of the architecture is stunning, beautiful inside out. Make sure to have enough time to walk around the church. The unique rosary path is a must.

Note, parts of the site (the hill) is continuously under construction thus there are areas where it’s not visually nice but aside from that absolutely loved the...