Sta. Monica Parish Church Postcard

Located along the highway is the Sta. Monica Parish Church (Alburquerque Church) complex built on a low knoll. The Albur parish was established in 1869 after being separated from Baclayon, Bohol. An 1886 reports indicates that the church was built of light materials. This way made of rubble, wood and tabique. The date of the construction of the church is uncertain, although, the generous use of reinforced concrete for the façade and the bell tower indicates that the church was either being built or renovated in the 20th century.

Alburquerque Church Postcard

SOURCE:
Churches in Bohol Wikipedia Entry

Baclayon Church Postcards

The Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception (Baclayon Church) is considered to be one of the oldest churches in the Philippines. It is one of the best presevered Jesuit build churches in the region, although in the 19th century, the Augustinian Recollects added a modern facade and a number of stone buildings that now surround the church.

Baclayon Church Postcard 1

Only in 1717, Baclayon became a parish, and construction of a new church commenced. Some 200 native forced laborers constructed the church from coral stones, which they took from the sea, cut into square blocks, and piled on to each other. They used bamboo to move and lift the stones in position, and used the white of a million eggs as to cement them together. The current building was completed in 1727.

Baclayon Church Postcard 2

The church has two facades: an inner one which is Classical in inspiration, and outer one built in the 19th century by the Recollects is a portico decorated by three arches. The green and gilded altars are the focal point of the interior. They are exuberant versions of Baroque popular during the 18th century. Although the main retablo displays saints of Recollect devotion, the retablo itself traces to the Jesuits whose emblem and motto "Ad majorem Dei gloriam" surmounts the main altar.

Baclayon Church Postcard 3

In the nave are found two benches carved in low relief. One features genre scenes: a goat tied to a tree, a coconut, nipa grove, and a man in stocks. A painting of the Ascension, Church Fathers and San Vicente Ferrer are found in the nave. These date to the 19th century.

SOURCE:
Churches in Bohol Wikipedia Entry

St. Peter the Apostle Parish Church Postcard

The first stone church was built in 1602. It was destroyed by fire in 1638 and rebuilt beside the site of the older one. This is the Loboc Church presently standing, a fine example of the Jesuit colonial architecture of the 18th century. The Augustinian Recollects were responsible for the free-standing bell tower, the arcade facade, the mortuary chapel, and the heavy stone buttresses.

Loboc Church Postcard

Loboc Church contains a lot of interesting treasures. Among these are the decorative stone carvings and friezes on the exterior walls; a relief of St. Ignatius in polychrome stucco intriguingly hidden behind the main altar, seven ancient retablos from both the Jesuit and Recollect periods; ceiling murals done in the 1920’s by the Cebuano artists Rey Farncia and Canuto Avila, one depicting the miracle of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the town’s secondary patron, during the great flood of 1876; carved wooden cornices and decorative corbels shaped as gargoyles or mythical animals; and the unique three-story convent, perhaps the only one of its kind in the country.

SOURCE:
Loboc, Bohol Wikipedia Entry

St. Paul and St. Peter Church Postcard

Fr. Luis Candullo began the construction of a church for the Patron Saints San Pedro y San Pablo de Calasiao. This was ruined by an earthquake a few years later. In 1736 the insurrectos led by Palaris of Binalatongan (now San Carlos) burned the church.

Calasiao Church Postcard

After a few years, Fr. Daimau reconstructed it this time with strong materials, and this is the church that we find today in Calasiao. It is 88.30 meters long, 25 meters wide and 27.30 meters high. Construction began in 1753 and it was completed in 1858. The tower is about 30 meters high, this church is considered one of the best in Pangasinan architectural design.
The postcard also show the Señor Divino Tesoro Chapel which houses the image of Señor Divino Tesoro. In its windows are the 14 Stations of the Cross done in stained glass.

SOURCE:
Calasiao : "Lugar de Rayos"

Saint Joseph Parish Church Postcard

St. Joseph Parish Church is considered as the single most important structure in Dingras, Ilocos Norte. Formerly known as rurog (ruins), the Dingras Church was restored through the collective efforts of townsfolk residing locally and abroad.

Dingras Church Postcard

The centuries-old church had been rotting for decades after it was initially ravaged by fire and earthquake. Decades of being exposed to the elements led to structural decays until Dingreños pooled their funds to provide the church with steel columns and roofing. Until the restoration of the Dingras Church, parishioners have been hearing mass in a smaller church formerly built from materials torn from the ruins.

SOURCE:
The pilgrim sites of Ilocos Norte (An Article)