Dauis Church

Our Lady of the Assumption at Dauis sits at the Panglao end of the causeway from Tagbilaran, a nineteenth-century church of coral stone with an unfinished bell tower, painted ceilings and walls by Filipino artists of the early twentieth century, and a convent beside it that now houses a heritage centre and a restaurant run as a livelihood project. Its odd feature is a well at the foot of the main altar, inside the church, which yields fresh water despite standing metres from the sea - a phenomenon with a straightforward hydrological explanation and a local tradition attached to it about a siege and a miracle, and whose water pilgrims still collect. The church was damaged in the 2013 Bohol earthquake and has been repaired. Being minutes from Tagbilaran and on the way to Panglao's beaches, it is an easy stop, usually combined with Hinagdanan Cave nearby.

History

Jesuit priests founded the church in 1697 of light materials, and in 1753 Father Joseph Nepomuceno built a convent that became the Jesuits' residence; after the Jesuits left in 1768 the Augustinian Recollects built a church of bamboo and wood in 1769, lost to fire in 1795. The present stone church was begun in 1863 by Father Julio Saldaña and consecrated on 23 August 1923, and after the 2013 earthquake it was restored and reopened on 15 August 2017 (Wikipedia, Dauis Church).

What's there

• The painted interior - ceiling and wall work by early-1900s artists.
• The altar well - fresh water inside the church by the sea.
• The unfinished tower - the truncated belfry outside.
• The convent centre - heritage rooms and the livelihood restaurant.

When to go

November to May. Weekday mornings for quiet; weekends are busy with Masses and weddings on the Panglao route.

Things to know

It is a working parish and closes to sightseeing during services. Parts have been repaired after the 2013 earthquake. The well is a small feature, not a spectacle.

Nearby

Hinagdanan Cave, Alona Beach and Panglao's coast are all within twenty minutes; Tagbilaran is across the causeway.

Key facts