La Purisima Concepcion de la Virgen Maria Church is a Roman Catholic and Marian church located in Baclayon, Bohol, Philippines.
The church is one of the most historically important colonial-era structures in the island. It is the first and the oldest church established in Bohol, a National Cultural Treasure, a National Historical Landmark, and part of UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List of the Philippines.
It is also known as Baclayon Church and its name in English translates to The Immaculate Conception of Virgin Mary. Its second patroness is the Nuestra Señora del Rosario (Our Lady of the Rosary).
Table of Contents
History
Bohol is one of the islands that the Spaniards first set foot at the beginning of the conquest, and it was on November 17, 1596 that the spread of Christianity began with the arrival of Jesuit friars Juan de Torres and Gabriel Sanchez in Baclayon.
They came upon the invitation of Catalina de Bolaños, mother of Spanish colonizer Pedro de Gamboa who was given the island as encomienda. Spanish pioneers had built a hermitage which the Jesuits used as headquarter.
The friars later founded San Pedro Apostol Church in Loboc and Most Holy Trinity Church in Talibon.
By 1599, Fr. Diego Garcia, S.J. stated in his report on the status of the vice-province of the Philippine archipelago that Bohol was one of the missions of the religious order along with five missions in Leyte, one in Samar, another in Antipolo (Manila), and one other in Mandaue, Cebu.
Being the oldest church in Bohol, Baclayon Church had several visita that later became daughter parishes such as the ones in Alburquerque, Balilihan, Corella, and Sikatuna.
Baclayon became a parish in 1717. Its stone church was constructed with coral stones in 1727 along with other surrounding structures such as a fort and a church tower.
When the Jesuits were expelled in 1768, the Augustinian Recollects took charge of Baclayon and their other missions. The Recollects completed the church and undertook other building works such as a mortuary chapel, watchtower, and baptistry.
The Recollects left when the Philippine Revolution broke out in 1898 and the churches were entrusted to the secular clergy.
The church was destroyed from an earthquake that struck on October 15, 2013. The National Historical Commission of the Philippines began repair and reconstruction in the following years, and the restored church was unveiled on February 27, 2018.
Heritage
Baclayon Church was one of the Jesuit-built churches that was in UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List of the Philippines in 1993. A year later, it was declared a National Historical Landmark by the National Historical Institute on July 27, 1994. The National Museum of the Philippines elevated the church into a National Cultural Treasure in 2010.
Architecture
The church complex of Baclayon is right by the thoroughfare and a median strip of a green patch of garden, and it is in a scenic location by the shores. The church is in a form of a cross with the rest of the structures attached to the epistle transept.
By its entrance is the portico built in 1875. The bell tower was once a separate structure but has since become attached to the churchwall when the portico was erected by the Recollects. Entryways in the gallery are created by three arches supported by four posts with plain pilasters, and in the process they create three vertical sections on the wall.
Inscriptions in bas-relief found on each section read from left to right, “Baclayon”, “Immaculada Concepcion”, “Church 1595”. The year may be a curious detail, at best referring to a chapel made of light materials built by the Spanish encomiendero before the arrival of the Jesuits. (Consider that the Jesuit mission was founded a year later and that the stone church was not constructed until the 18th century.)
The rest of the facade is of spare decoration, there are two windows (both arches in the shape of ogee curve) that flank the niche of a holy image. The pediment is adorned with a row of dentil, an octagonal window, two blind rose windows with four-lobed motif, and another niche.
The bell tower, started by the Jesuits and finished by the Recollects, was completed in 1777. It is four-cornered of three floors, each upper ones smaller in terms of square area than the one below it, and topped with pyramidal roof.
Celebration
The feast of the Immaculate Conception falls on December 8 every year.
Mass schedule
Below is the weekly mass schedule of La Purisima Concepcion de la Virgen Maria Church in Baclayon, Bohol from June 9, 2025 to June 15, 2025. Please reach out to the church for an updated schedule. Additionally, you may also want to view mass schedules of churches in Baclayon.
Monday
- 6:00-7:00 AM (Cebuano - Facebook Live)
- 5:00-6:00 PM (Cebuano - Facebook Live)
Tuesday
- 6:00-7:00 AM (Cebuano - Facebook Live)
- 5:00-6:00 PM (Cebuano - Facebook Live)
Wednesday
- 6:00-7:00 AM (Cebuano - Facebook Live)
- 5:00-6:00 PM (Cebuano - Facebook Live)
Thursday
- 6:00-7:00 AM (Cebuano - Facebook Live)
- 5:00-6:00 PM (Cebuano - Facebook Live)
Friday
- 6:00-7:00 AM (Cebuano - Facebook Live)
- 5:00-6:00 PM (Cebuano - Facebook Live)
Saturday
- 6:00-7:00 AM (Cebuano - Facebook Live)
- 5:00-6:00 PM (Cebuano - Facebook Live)
Sunday
- 5:30-6:30 AM (Cebuano - Facebook Live)
- 8:00-9:00 AM
- 10:00-11:00 AM
- 5:00-6:00 PM (English - Facebook Live)
Church information
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Name | La Purisima Concepcion de la Virgen Maria Church in Baclayon, Bohol |
| Other Names | Baclayon Church |
| Address | Poblacion, Baclayon, 6301 Bohol |
| Country | Philippines |
| Contact | (038) 540-9176 |
| www.facebook.com | |
| Religion | |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Founder | Fr. Juan de Torres, Fr. Gabriel Sanchez |
| Established | November 17, 1596 |
| Age | 429 years |
| Status | Parish |
| Declared as parish | 1717 |
| Age as parish | 308 years |
| Archdiocese | Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cebu |
| Diocese | Diocese of Tagbilaran |
| Vicariate | Vicariate of the Assumption of Our Lady |
| Patron | Our Lady of Immaculate Conception |
| Feast day | December 8 |
| Architecture | |
| Heritage | UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List of the Philippines (1993) National Historical Landmark (July 27, 1994) National Cultural Treasure (2010) |
| Completed | 1727 |
| Age since completed | 298 years |
| Builder | Friars of Society of Jesus, Order of Augustinian Recollects |
| Style | Baroque, Neoclassical |
| Belfry | 1 |
| Bell | 6 |
| Tower | 1 |
Nearby Churches
- Assumption of Our Lady Church in Dauis, Bohol
- Nuestra Senora De La Paz Y Buen Viaje Church in Songculan, Dauis, Bohol
- Nuestra Señora Del Villar Church in Corella, Bohol
- St. Augustine Church in Panglao, Bohol
References
- Jose, Regalado Trota (2001). Visita Iglesia Bohol: A Guide to Historic Churches. National Commission on Culture and the Arts. Manila, Philippines. ISBN 9718140166, 978-9718140161. Retrieved December 2, 2022
- The Augustinian Recollects in Bohol (1768-1898, 1904-1937). Agustinos Recoletos. Retrieved December 2, 2022
- Evangelization in Bohol: 250 years of the arrival of the Augustinian Recollects. Agustinos Recoletos. Retrieved December 2, 2022
- H. Dela Costa. The Jesuits in the Philippines 1581-1959. Philippine Studies , JANUARY 1959, Vol. 7, No. 1 (JANUARY 1959), pp. 68-97. Ateneo de Manila University. Retrieved December 2, 2022
- Simbahan ng Baclayon. National Historical Commission of the Philippines. November 2011. Retrieved December 4, 2022
- Leo Udtohan. Baclayon church in Bohol fully restored, reopened. GMA News Online. February 27, 2018. Retrieved December 4, 2022