Baclayon Church | |
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Immaculate Conception Parish Church | |
Iglesia Parroquial de La Purísima Concepción de la Virgen María (Spanish) | |
![]() The church in January 2023 | |
Location in the Visayas | |
9°37′22″N 123°54′44″E / 9.6227°N 123.9122°E | |
Location | Baclayon, Bohol |
Country | Philippines |
Denomination | Catholic |
History | |
Status | Parish church |
Founded | 1596 1717 (as Parish) |
Founder(s) | Fr. Juan de Torres, SJ Fr. Gabriel Sanchez, SJ |
Dedication | Immaculate Conception |
Consecrated | 1727 |
Architecture | |
Functional status | Active |
Heritage designation | National Cultural Treasure |
Architectural type | Church building |
Style | Baroque |
Years built | 1727, 2014–2018 |
Groundbreaking | 2014 | (restoration)
Completed | February 27, 2018 | (restoration)
Specifications | |
Materials | Coral stones |
Administration | |
Province | Cebu |
Diocese | Tagbilaran (since 1941) |
Deanery | Assumption of Our Lady |
Parish | Immaculate Concepcion |
Clergy | |
Priest(s) | Fr. Vicente Mathias M. Nunag, III |
Assistant priest(s) | Fr. Felipe B. Digal |
National Historical Landmarks | |
Designated | July 27, 1994 |
Legal Basis | Resolution No. 3, s. 1994 |
Designated | 2010 |
The Immaculate Conception Parish Church, also known as La Purisima Concepcion de la Virgen Maria Parish Church and Baclayon Church, is a Roman Catholic church in the municipality of Baclayon, Bohol, Philippines within the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Tagbilaran. Baclayon was founded by the Jesuit priest Juan de Torres and Gabriel Sánchez in 1596, and became the oldest Christian settlement in Bohol. It was elevated as a parish in 1717 and the present coral stone church was completed in 1727. The Augustinian Recollects succeeded the Jesuits in 1768 and heavily renovated the church since then.
The church was declared a National Cultural Treasure by the National Museum of the Philippines and a National Historical Landmark by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines. Together with the churches of Maragondon, Loboc and Guiuan, the Baclayon Church was formerly included for the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List of the Philippines since 1993 under the collective group of Jesuit Churches of the Philippines. When a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck Bohol and other parts of Central Visayas in 2013, the church building sustained major damage. It was reconstructed by the National Museum of the Philippines from 2014 to 2018.