Top 30 Most Beautiful Roman Catholic Churches of the Philippines
Here is the list of Top 30 Most Beautiful Roman Catholic Churches of the Philippines
1. Manila Cathedral
Intramuros, Manila
This church was originally established in 1571 and is officially recognized as the Kalakhang Katedral Basílika ng Maynilà. The Manila Cathedral is a Roman Catholic basilica devoted as Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception to the Holy Virgin Mary. Moreover, the church is working as the See of the Archbishop of Manila. In 1958 the eighth and present rendition of the cathedral was accomplished. In 2012, it was restored and renewed for earthquake retrofitting and sinking prevention and re-opened for the community after a whole renovation in 2014.
2. San Agustin Church
Intramuros, Manila
A church in Manila under the help of the Order of Saint Augustine, the existing San Agustin Church is the third to be constructed on the place. In 1571, the initial was constructed through nipa and bamboo, however, later destroyed in 1574 via fire. The second was made up of wood, however in 1583 likewise burned down. The third which is still existing today and as a World Heritage Site it turns into one of four local Spanish-era churches to be selected by UNESCO, mutually recognized as the Baroque Churches of the Philippines.
3. Binondo Church
Binondo, Manila
There are various churches in Manila and in 1596 this church was established by Dominican priests. The Binondo Church is recognized as Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Parish and also known as the Minor Basilica of Saint Lorenzo Ruiz. The church has been reconstructed many times over the centuries because of continuous damage by natural disasters and war. Sporting historic European and Spanish baroque design components, the church has reserved its original appeal. However lone the octagon belfry and the western facade which proposes the Chinese culture of the parishioners are what stay from the first structure.
4. Calasiao Church
Calasiao, Pangasinan
It is also recognized locally as Paul Parish and Saints Peter Church. The Calasiao Church is a baroque church that was called as the Philippines National Commission for Culture and the Arts and National Cultural Treasure by the Philippines National Museum. This church was constructed in the Spanish colonial era and its key structure is ladrillo or massive bricks with a fortress-like frontage planned to endure rebellions and revolts. Alongside Museo Calasiao, it has small museum housing old-fashioned photos and ancient pieces of the church.
5. Quiapo Church
Quiapo, Manila
Quiapo Church is a very popular church in this list due to its location of the miraculous Nuestro Señor Jesús Nazareno, which is also recognized as the Black Nazarene. In 1988, The Quiapo church was formally stated as Minor Basilica. The church is situated in center Manila in Plaza Miranda, in 1984 the baroque church was extended to accommodate more believers. The church dome at the transept and façade with twisted columns were reserved from its classic design.
6. Malate Church
Malate, Manila
In the Philippines, it can another of the baroque churches fronted by the Manila Bay and Plaza Rajah Sulayman. Malate Church is devoted to “Our Lady of Remedies,” or Nuestra Señora de Los Remedios, the patroness of childbirth. One of just two churches with a retablo-type façade and twisted column, Malate Church’s appearance is thought to be a composite of Mexican baroque and Muslim design. There is an Inside image of Our Lady of Remedies preserved on the central table. In the 1600s it was purchase by Augustinian Fathers from Spain.
7. Guadalupe Church
Guadalupe Viejo, Makati
This church is officially recognized as Nuestra Señora de Gracia Church. Guadalupe Church is a parish currently managed by the Province of Santo Niño de Cebu by the Augustinian friars. In Guadalupe stemming from the first monastery and sanctuary constructed by Fray Simon Dantes in 1601, the famous Metro Manila wedding place sort’s different architectural styles with a facade that is neo-Romanesque-gothic. And collections of Doric pillars supporting the triangular pediment and the church’s cornice.
8. Santa Cruz Church
Santa Cruz, Manila
The land of Santa Cruz Church was originated in 1619 and was originally constructed to serve as a parish for the growing Chinese refugees moving to Manila and changing to Roman Catholic Church. From natural occurrences, the church continued damage over time and by the end of World War II, it was demolished. Then church reconstruction was completed in 1957. It keeps on standing now in its baroque style structure that is evocative of the Mission Churches of Southern California and Western Mexico.
9. Paoay Church
Ilocos Norte
The Saint Augustine Church is situated in the city of Paoay, Ilocos Norte. This church is broadly known for its distinct architecture categorized by 24 huge buttresses back of the structure and on the sides. Moreover, in 1973 this church is stated as a National Cultural Treasure by the Philippine government. The church has furthermore a three-story coral bell tower that looks like a pagoda that was constructed apart from the church for earthquake safety.
10. Miag-ao Church
Miag-ao, Iloilo
Miag-ao Church is recognized as the Santo Tomas de Villanueva Parish Church. The Church was also entitled to the Miag-ao Fortress Church as its two lopsided ringer towers filled in as a strategic area for the town’s protection against Muslim assaults. It is one of the Baroque Churches of the Philippines which was affirmed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. It contains the limestone picture of the Birhen ng Barangay, customary Filipino attire recuperated from the 1982 unearthings, and the first late 1790s pictures of Saint Thomas of Villanova.
11. Santa Maria Church
Santa Maria, Ilocos Sur
This church is one more UNESCO World Heritage Site. This structure is also recognized as the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption. The church was constructed on the highest point of a hill to assist as a fortress, viewpoint, and religious center in the initial management of the region by friars and warrior of the Spanish colonial age. The convent and church are bounded by a cautious wall on all sides like a fortress and is reached by method of an 85-advance flight of stairs made of stone.
12. Bantay Church
Bantay, Ilocos Sur
The Church’s also recognized as Saint Augustine Parish Church. Bantay Church’s name originates from its old notable turret as the Bantay tower. The Bantay tower is likewise the foundation of the town’s name. In the Philippines, there are numerous old churches and this church is one of the oldest churches in the region and was originated in 1590. Like many other churches of the Philippine, this church was also heavily damaged in World War II and then it was reconstructed in the 1950s. With pseudo-Romanesque components, its façade is neo-gothic and intended to be reminiscent and grandiose of Spanish architecture.
13. Taal Basilica
Taal, Batangas
Taal Basilica is the largest church in Asia and in the Philippines which has 88.6 meters long and 48 meters wide. It is canonically acknowledged as the Minor Basilica of Saint Martin of Tours. The church’s first rendition constructed after 3 years of creation in the town of Taal in 1575. Today the existing church started its construction in 1856 and has experienced renovations in 1953, 1972, and 2011. In 1990 its belfry was reconstructed.
14. Tayabas Basilica
Tayabas, Quezon Province
In the province of Quezon, the Tayabas Basilica is the largest Roman Catholic Church which canonically recognized as the Minor Basilica of Saint Michael the Archangel. This church is well-known for its key-shaped architecture which has garnered it the name Susi ng Tayabas amongst the citizens. Moreover, it is broadly known for the clock situated inner side of belfry which is considered as one of the oldest in the Aisa.
15. Bacarra Church
Bacarra, Ilocos Norte
Bacarra Church is one of the most visited in the Philippines. This church is broadly recognized for its leaning bell tower, hundreds of years old, dome-less. Aside from the “beheaded” belfry acknowledged as Torres di Bacarra, A church museum Museo di Bacarra is held in the former convent. The two-story convent goes back to the Spanish frontier period, and currently cultural artifacts and houses religious, also archival photos and documents.
16. Our Lady of Piat Church
Piat, Cagayan
The church is called the Pilgrimage Center of the North. In the Philippines, the Basilica Minore of Our Lady of Piat is one of twelve small Churches. It is home to a 407-year-old black photo of the Virgin Mary which the church is devoted to and is entitled after. Basilica Minore church was prepared by red bricks of the Cagayan Valley however, changed from the limestone and coral flourished by other Philippines churches. Revered at its special raised area is the Blessed Virgin Mary with balconies that creates the monument extra stylish.
17. Betis Church
Guagua, Pampanga
By the National Museum this church was also acknowledged as the National Commission for Culture and Arts and a National Cultural Treasure, the baroque-inspired Betis Church has a pack of inventive features. The Saint James the Apostle Parish Church’s main attraction is its roof wall painting complete by artist Simón Flores (1839–1904). His painting of the Holy Family is also one more feature of the church, also an artesian well in the congregation porch that dove during the 1800s.
18. Barasoain Church
Malolos, Bulacan
Barasoain Church is acknowledged as Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish which has as well as earned the labels of the Cradle of Democracy in the East. This church is the most vital religious building In the Philippines. The site of the First Philippine Republic because it was the setting of main events in the history of the Philippine. The three main incidences were the organizing of the First Philippine Congress, in 1898 the enlisting of the Malolos Constitution and in 1899 the induction of the First Philippine Republic.
19. Baclayon Church
Baclayon, Bohol
Baclayon Church is one of the oldest churches in the Philippines which also known La Purisima Concepcion de la Virgen Maria Parish Church. It is constructed of coral stones on Bohol Island. The church sports a cruciform design with its crossroads surmounted by a pyramidal wall. It was active for adding to the Philippines UNESCO World Heritage Sites, but unluckily in 2013, there was huge destruction in the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that crash Bohol and other areas of Central Visayas. The restoration of the church is still under process.
20. San Jose de Ivana Church
Ivana, Batanes
Under the jurisdiction of the Prelature of Batanes, this church was devoted to Saint Joseph. Originally in 1787, San Jose de Ivana Church was established as a chapel by Dominicans. In 1795, the existing stone church was constructed with the bell tower subsequent in 1817. San Jose de Ivana Church is one of the better-conserved churches in the country. In 1869, it has endured renewal and again in 2001 after an earthquake partly damaged it in 2000. The church features a small museum housing hundreds of years old relics and an old convent.
21. Sarrat Church
Sarrat, Ilocos Norte
Santa Monica Parish Church initially recognized as the San Miguel Church and this church was situated in the Philippines. It is now known as the Sarrat Church or Santa Monica Parish Church. In 1779, originally this church was constructed and is a complex that consists of the linked convent that joins to the church through an elevated three-level brick staircase. In 2009, by the Philippines National Museum, it was acknowledged an Important Cultural Property. The church is most popular for the largest of its kind in Ilocos Norte and mainly due to the length of its nave.
22. Daraga Church
Daraga, Albay
Daraga Church was constructed in 1772 which officially called Nuestra Señora de la Porteria Parish Church. Later then-settlement of Daraga was built up a previous by those escaping the town of Cagsawa inspired by a paranoid another outbreak of Mayon Volcano. With a Churrigueresque architectural style in its façade, the church is a good sign of baroque architecture. The walls of the church are prepared by volcanic rock that is common in the Daraga locale.
23. Paete Church
Paete, Laguna
Paete Church is known by many names, which are all focused on its patron saint, Saint James the Apostle. The church is broadly famous for its wide assortment of images representing the Passion of Christ and also hundreds of year wooden images and old paintings of saints. Saint James the Apostle has qualifies as being the main Roman Catholic Church in the city. The existing church features large walls on each side to be more resistant to the calamity because of its storied past of being lost to earthquakes.
24. Liliw Church
Liliw, Laguna
This church is also identified as Lilio Church and Saint John the Baptist Parish Church. Originally Liliw Church was build up as a reduccion, especially an attached vista of the then-town of Nagcarlan that got free in 1605. The church is decorated with red bricks and the feel of the inner church is what creates it an absolute necessity visit for various. The interval view is comfortably cool with the individual source of natural light being the feeble beams that filter through the church’s special recolored glass windows.
25. Pakil Church
Pakil, Laguna
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This church is known as Diocesan Shrine of Nuestra Señora de Los Dolores de Turumba and as the Saint Peter of Alcantara Parish Church. Pakil Church is the Our Lady of Turumba painting home. The church has ionic architectural orders which are constructed in the Corinthian. Parish Church takes on the shape of a cruciform, and cornices across a floral stone relief and sports a façade with classical Corinthian pillars. The common thing of Laguna churches that its side entrance is decoratively planned, and it as well as has a tower housing four small bells and one huge bell.
26. Church of San Juan del Monte
San Juan, Metro Manila
At the beginning of the 1600s, the church was constructed and officially recognized as Santuario del Santo Cristo. The convent of the church has many devastations and later restorations in San Juan’s history. In 1774, the existing church was constructed and in the 1898 Philippine Revolution, it was utilized as a shelter by the Katipuneros. It serves as the “Confraternity of the Holy Christ of Saint John of the Mountain” or the seat of the Cofradia del Santísimo Cristo de San Juan del Monte.
27. Pasig Cathedral
Malinao, Pasig City
The Pasig Cathedral is one of the oldest structures in Pasig City which also known as the Immaculate Conception Cathedral. In 1573 the church was build-up coincided with the base of the then-town of Pasig. It was originally set apart to the Visitation of Our Lady and 14 years later reformed to Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. It formerly belonged to the Archdiocese of Manila however in 2003 turn into the seat of the Diocese of Pasig. In the same year, its status was raised to the cathedral.
28. Paranaque Cathedral
La Huerta, Paranaque
In 1580, Paranaque Cathedral was originated by Augustinian friars which officially called the Cathedral Parish of Saint Andrew. Paranaque Cathedral is one of the most historical and oldest churches in the Philippines. Furthermore, it is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Parañaque which is the church that includes the cities of Muntinlupa, Las Piñas, and Parañaque. In 2000, the cathedral is the Nuestra Señora del Buen Suceso home which was authoritatively delegated as the Patroness of the City of Parañaque.
29. Santo Niño Basilica
Cebu City
The Santo Niño Basilica is known as the oldest church in the Philippines which officially called Basilica Menore del Santo Niño. It is the location where a statue portraying the Child Jesus recognized as the Santo Niño de Cebú and in 1565 it was discovered by Spanish explorers. The existing church is a portion of a larger complex that moreover contains the open-air theater-like Pilgrim Center, a museum comprising religious exhibits, an extensive library, and antique relics.
30. San Sebastian Cathedral
Bacolod City
San Sebastian Cathedral is the church of the 19th-century which serves as the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bacolod. The existing form of church construction started in 1876 by a coral stone source from the island of Guimaras. Around nine years since its primary construction, the church’s two bell towers were constructed to accommodate a large clock and two different sized bells. Today, the bells are seen in a special belfry located in the church’s courtyard.