About this place
South Korea's oldest Protestant church rebuilt as a 13-storey stone tower in Jongno — two curved wings frame a circular plaza, with a slim observatory spire topped by a suspended cross.
Saemoonan Church (새문안교회) was established in 1887 as the first Korean Protestant church and is known as the "mother church" of Korean Protestantism. The current building, completed in 2019, is the sixth home of the congregation and was designed by Seoinn Design Group and architect Lee Eunseok to express the church's foundational role in Korean Christian history.
The 13-storey building occupies a prominent site on Saemunan-ro in Jongno-gu, within the historic civic core of Seoul near Gyeongbokgung Palace and Gwanghwamun Square. The design rejects the pointed silhouette of Gothic revival church architecture in favour of a contemporary form: two curved stone towers rise on either side of a recessed circular entrance plaza, whose hollow concave shape the architect describes as a "mother opening her arms."
The taller of the two towers is a functional block containing the main sanctuary, offices, and community spaces. The slimmer tower to one side serves as a modern spire: it contains a small contemplative chapel and is capped by an observatory level with a suspended cross — a cross that appears to float free of the structure below, visible from the street as a contemporary equivalent of the Gothic steeple. The curved stone facade wraps the entire composition in a continuous skin of warm-toned cladding.
The building marks the church's 130th anniversary and stands as one of the more considered religious buildings in Seoul, where much church architecture tends toward generic commercial construction. Its civic presence on Saemunan-ro, at a historically significant address, makes it a notable addition to the public face of Jongno.
Architecture · Religious BuildingCulture · Cultural Center