Baclayon Church: The Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception

Baclayon Church or officially known as the Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception is one of the best preserved Jesuit built churches in Bohol. Built in 1595 in honor of Mother Mary, Baclayon Church is considered to be one of the oldest churches in the Philippines

I went here at 11:40 a.m. on Februrary 29, 2012 right after visiting the Blood Compact Site and before going to Loboc to take the river cruise with my mom, elder brother, and twin brother. This was during my first time in Bohol, the 18th province on my list.

Baclayon Church

History

The first Spanish missionaries or doctrineros in the region, Fr. Juan de Torres and Fr. Gabriel Sanchez, first settled in Baclayon in 1595. Shortly after their arrival, a visita was erected on the spot. Although Baclayon was the first seat of the Spanish Jesuit missionaries, fear of Moro marauders soon forced them to move their headquarters more inland, to Loboc. 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. The church obtained a large bell in 1835. In the Baclayon church is a dungeon, which was used to punish natives who violated the rules of the Roman Catholic Church.