Miagao Church

Santo Tomás de Villanueva at Miagao was completed in 1797 and is one of the four Baroque Churches of the Philippines on the UNESCO list. It was built as a fortress as much as a church - thick yellow sandstone walls, two massive unequal bell towers used as lookouts, and a hilltop position - because Miagao's coast was raided repeatedly from the sea. Its facade is what sets it apart from every other colonial church in the country: a carved relief in which Saint Christopher carries the Christ child through a landscape of coconut palm, papaya and guava, with local plants, houses and figures worked into the surface, so the ornament is emphatically Philippine rather than transplanted European. The stone weathers to a warm gold and has been consolidated over successive restorations. The town below is small; the church stands on its rise and can be seen from the road well before you reach it.

History

Miagao was a visita, served by visiting priests, of Oton, Tigbauan, San Joaquín and Guimbal in turn until 1731, when it became an independent Augustinian parish under Saint Thomas of Villanova, with a first church and convent near the sea; Father Fernando Camporredondo became its first parish priest in 1734. After Moro raids in 1741 and 1754 the town moved to safer ground, and in 1787 a new church was begun with forced labour under the parish priest Fray Francisco Gonzales and the gobernadorcillo Domingo Libo-on, on the town's highest point, with thick walls against raiders; it was finished in 1797. It was badly damaged in the revolution of 1898 and later rebuilt, and suffered again from a fire in 1910, the Second World War and an earthquake in 1948, and on 11 December 1993 it became one of the four Baroque Churches of the Philippines on the World Heritage List (Wikipedia, Miagao Church).

Highlights

• The carved facade - Saint Christopher under a coconut palm.
• The unequal towers - two heavy belfries of different heights.
• The sandstone walls - thick gold-coloured fortress masonry.
• The hilltop position - the church above the town and coast.

When to go

November to May for dry weather; late afternoon light brings out the carving on the facade. Weekday mornings are quiet.

Practical notes

It is a working parish and closes during services and weddings. The interior is plain compared with the front. Miagao is an hour from Iloilo City on the coastal road.

Nearby

Anini-y's coral-stone church is further south in Antique; Iloilo City, Molo and Jaro are back north.

Key facts