San Guillermo Parish Church in

Bacolor, Pampanga Bacolor, officially the Municipality of Bacolor ( pam, Balen ning Bakúlud; tgl, Bayan ng Bacolor), is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Pampanga, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 48,066 people. Bac ...

, Philippines is named after San Guillermo, the town's patron saint. The church was originally constructed by the

Augustinian Augustinian may refer to: *Augustinians, members of religious orders following the Rule of St Augustine *Augustinianism, the teachings of Augustine of Hippo and his intellectual heirs *Someone who follows Augustine of Hippo * Canons Regular of Sain ...

Friars in 1576 – also the town's founding – with Padre Diego de Ochoa, OSA, becoming the town's first parish priest two years later. In 1880, the church was destroyed by an earthquake, and rebuilt by Fr. Eugenio Alvarez in 1886. On September 3, 1995, lahar flow from the slopes of

Mount Pinatubo Mount Pinatubo is an active stratovolcano in the Zambales Mountains, located on the tripoint boundary of the Philippine provinces of Zambales, Tarlac and Pampanga, all in Central Luzon on the northern island of Luzon. Its eruptive histor ...

which erupted on June 15, 1991, buried the church to half its height, prompting more than 50,000 town residents to evacuate to safer grounds in resettlement areas. Near the façade of the parish church is a museum on the history of the church. It also contains paintings of the Pinatubo eruption in 1991.

History

Bacolor is one of the oldest towns in the Philippines. The first church was built by the

friars in 1576 on the lot of Don Guillermo Manabat, a rich landlord believed to be the founder of Bacolor. An earthquake destroyed the church and a new church was built by Fr. Manuel Diaz in 1897. It has a central nave and well-lighted transept with windows. The main

retablo A retablo is a devotional painting, especially a small popular or folk art one using iconography derived from traditional Catholic church art. More generally ''retablo'' is also the Spanish term for a retable or reredos above an altar, whether ...

, side retablos and pulpit are gilded with gold leaf. The richness of the decoration of Bacolor church depicts the advanced stage of Baroque and

Rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...

. After the

eruption in 1991 which caused the lahars to flow into the municipality that half-buried the church, the structure remained in use as a place of worship. It was a tourist destination before the 1991 eruption, and more tourists came to the church, whose remaining features are being preserved and maintained, afterwards.

Description

The church features a main

, side retablos and a pulpit heavily gilded with gold leaves. The rich decorations of the church depict the Baroque style of architecture. Only half of the original facade of the church can be seen after it was half-buried by the eruption. After the eruption, the town's people excavated the altar and the retablo and relocated it under the dome. The retablos niches are filled with centuries-old statues which were saved from destruction of the lahar. The citizens of Bacolor carefully excavated the ornately carved main and side altars and restored in its immaculate condition. The choir area used to be located above the sanctuary but since the lahar occurred, the citizens of Bacolor decided that the area be moved.

Museo de Bacolor

Part of the Church is the ''Recuerdos Sagrados de Bacolor'' (Sacred Memorabilia of Bacolor) or Museum. File:Bacolormuseum3jf.JPG, Museo de Bacolor File:Bacolormuseumjf.JPG, Interior File:Bmuseumbacolor55jf.JPG, The Recuerdos and Icons File:Museumbacolor55jf.JPG, Jewel in the Crown

Media

This heritage church is part of the main venue for taping of

ABS-CBN ABS-CBN (an initialism of its two predecessors' names, Alto Broadcasting System and Chronicle Broadcasting Network) is a Philippine commercial broadcast network that serves as the flagship property of ABS-CBN Corporation, a company unde ...

primetime show '' May Bukas Pa'' from January 15, 2009 to February 5, 2010, using the church as their

Monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whi ...

. The production crew of ''May Bukas Pa'' was allowed by Fr. Jesus Manabat Jr. since the show's story has religious themes, and letting the crew film there helped in the maintenance and repair of the whole church compound.

The Filipino Channel The Filipino Channel, commonly known as TFC, is a 24-hour global subscription television network based in Daly City, California with studios in Redwood City, California and offices in Africa, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Cayman Islands, UAE, Ethi ...

's aid in exposure led to an influx of foreigners and locals visiting the church. The church also made appearances in various films such as the 1996 movie ''Istokwa'' and the 2006 movie '' Summer Heat'' by

Viva Films Viva Films is a Philippine film production company established under Viva Communications. It was founded on November 11, 1981, by Vic del Rosario Jr. History Veering away from the Sharon Cuneta- Gabby Concepcion tandem, Viva became home to q ...

Gallery

File:Aguillermobacolorjfa.JPG, A view of the church File:SanGuillermoChurchAltar.jpg, Main altar File:Aguillermochurchjf.JPG, Interior File:Churchbacolor2jf.JPG, Rear view of the church

References

{{Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Fernando Roman Catholic churches in Pampanga Baroque architecture in the Philippines Churches in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Fernando