St. John's Cathedral is a Roman Catholic church located in Bundang-dong

Bundang-dong

Bundang-dong is one of the 19 dongs of Bundang-gu, Seongnam, South Korea. The total area is 3.40 km², with a population of 31,186 . It is a quiet residential area with trees and parks, located at the foot of Mountain Bulgok. Taehyeon Park is close to the residential area...

, Bundang-gu

Bundang

Bundang is the southernmost district of Seongnam, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. In addition to being the most populous part of the city, it also has the status of being one of the wealthiest regions in Gyeonggi Province...

, Seongnam

Seongnam

Seongnam is the second largest city in South Korea's Gyeonggi province after Suwon and the 9th largest city in the country, with a population of nearly 1 million...

, South Korea

South Korea

The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

. It employs a balance of both modern as well as gothic-style architecture

Gothic architecture

Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....

. It features a replica of Michelangelo's Pietà

Pietà (Michelangelo)

The Pietà is a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture by Michelangelo Buonarroti, housed in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. It is the first of a number of works of the same theme by the artist. The statue was commissioned for the French cardinal Jean de Billheres, who was a representative in...

; one of only three in the world officially authorized by the Vatican

Holy See

The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...

.

The cathedral also has a unique spiral stairway

Stairway

Stairway, staircase, stairwell, flight of stairs, or simply stairs are names for a construction designed to bridge a large vertical distance by dividing it into smaller vertical distances, called steps...

 (instead of stairs) that features an accompanying spiraling mural which begins with the biblical story of creation in Genesis at the base of the walkway, including the life events of Jesus

Jesus

Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...

, His Passion

Passion (Christianity)

The Passion is the Christian theological term used for the events and suffering – physical, spiritual, and mental – of Jesus in the hours before and including his trial and execution by crucifixion...

 and ending with illustrations from the Acts of the Apostles

Acts of the Apostles

The Acts of the Apostles , usually referred to simply as Acts, is the fifth book of the New Testament; Acts outlines the history of the Apostolic Age...

.