Immaculate Conception Parish Church, commonly known as Guiuan Church, is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

in the municipality of

Guiuan, Eastern Samar Guiuan (Help:IPA/Tagalog, �giˌwan; , ), officially the Municipality of Guiuan, is a municipality of the Philippines, municipality in the Philippine Province, province of Eastern Samar, Philippines. It constitutes the southeastern extremity ...

, Philippines, within the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Borongan. The church is classified as a National Cultural Treasure by the

National Museum of the Philippines The National Museum of the Philippines () is an umbrella government organization that oversees a number of national museums in the Philippines, including Ethnography, ethnographic, Anthropology, anthropological, Archaeology, archaeological, an ...

. It was formerly nominated to the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

Sites of the Philippines under two categories, the

Baroque Churches of the Philippines The Baroque Churches of the Philippines are a collection of four Spanish Colonial architecture, Spanish Colonial-era baroque churches in the Philippines, which were included in UNESCO's World Heritage Site, World Heritage List in 1993. The chu ...

(Extension) and the Jesuit Churches of the Philippines. The church, built in the 18th century, was significantly damaged when

Typhoon Haiyan Typhoon Haiyan, known in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Yolanda, was an extremely powerful and catastrophic tropical cyclone that is among List of the most intense tropical cyclones, the most powerful tropical cyclones ever recorded. Upon ...

(local name: Yolanda) made landfall in Guiuan and struck other parts of

Central Visayas Central Visayas (; or ) is an Regions of the Philippines, administrative region in the Philippines, numerically designated as Region VII. With only two Provinces of the Philippines, provinces: Cebu and Bohol, as well as three Cities of the Phi ...

on November 8, 2013. While the church's roof was destroyed and the

façade A façade or facade (; ) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loanword from the French language, French (), which means "frontage" or "face". In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important asp ...

damaged, the church's walls were largely left intact. Restoration of the damaged church was completed in 2019.

Church history

Guiuan (also spelled as ''Guiguan'') was founded by the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

in 1595. It was handed over to the

Augustinians Augustinians are members of several religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, written about 400 A.D. by Augustine of Hippo. There are two distinct types of Augustinians in Catholic religious orders dating back to the 12th–13 ...

upon instructions from the Spanish colonial government due to the Jesuits Suppression in 1768. It was then transferred to the

Franciscans The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor being the largest conte ...

in 1795 but due to lack of priests, Father Miguel Pérez, the first Franciscan priest of Guiuan was only assigned in 1804. The original church of Guiuan was made of

wood Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...

and destroyed by

fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a fuel in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. Flames, the most visible portion of the fire, are produced in the combustion re ...

. The present

stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

church was dedicated to the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

under the title of the

Immaculate Conception The Immaculate Conception is the doctrine that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. It is one of the four Mariology, Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Debated by medieval theologians, it was not def ...

and was built by the early Jesuits in 1718 and was renovated by adding a

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") cruciform plan, churches, in particular within the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque a ...

and

baptistery In Church architecture, Christian architecture the baptistery or baptistry (Old French ''baptisterie''; Latin ''baptisterium''; Greek language, Greek , 'bathing-place, baptistery', from , baptízein, 'to baptize') is the separate centrally planned ...

during the term of Father Manuel Valverde and Pedro Monasterio in 1844. A

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...

on top fort was built in 1854. Another convent was built by Father Arsenio Figueroa in 1872. The church was refurbished in 1935 and the sanctuary was renovated in 1987. On November 8, 2013, the church along with other buildings and structures in Guiuan was severely damaged due to

, which made

landfall Landfall is the event of a storm moving over land after being over water. More broadly, and in relation to human travel, it refers to 'the first land that is reached or seen at the end of a journey across the sea or through the air, or the fact ...

in the town. While the roof was destroyed and the façade was damaged, the church's stone walls remain unscathed, as do the floors and the crypts. File:Inmaculada Concepcion Parish Church, Guiuan, Eastern Samar (Before and After 2013 Typhoon Haiyan).jpg, Guiuan Church before (''left'') and after Typhoon Haiyan

Historical and cultural declarations

The

named Guiuan Church a National Cultural Treasure in 2001. As a nominee for the UNESCO World Heritage Sites of the Philippines, it is grouped with Maragondon Church,

Baclayon Church Immaculate Conception Parish Church, also known as La Purisima Concepcion de la Virgen Maria Parish Church and Baclayon Church, is a Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Church (building), church in the municipality of Baclayon, Bohol, Philippines ...

and Loboc Church for the ''Jesuit Churches of the Philippines'' and with Boljoon Church, Loboc Church,

Tumauini Church Saint Matthias Parish Church, commonly known as Tumauini Church, is a Catholic Church, Roman Catholic church building, church in the municipality of Tumauini, Isabela, Philippines, within the jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ilagan, ...

and

Lazi Church San Isidro Labrador Parish Church, commonly known as Lazi Church, is a Roman Catholic church in the municipality of Lazi, Siquijor, Philippines within the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Dumaguete. It became an independent parish in 1857 under t ...

for the ''Baroque Churches of the Philippines (Extension)'' nomination. However, due to its total destruction, it was then removed from the roster of nominated sites. On March 18, 2021, as part of the

2021 Quincentennial Commemorations in the Philippines The 2021 Quincentennial Commemorations in the Philippines (2021 QCP) was a series of observances organized to mark the 500th anniversary of various events in the Philippines, notably the introduction of Christianity in the Philippines, the role ...

marking the 500th anniversary of the arrival of the Magellan–Elcano circumnavigation to the Philippines, the National Historical Commission of the Philippines unveiled a historical marker commemorating the church.

Description

Guiuan Church is nestled inside a

fort A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...

. It is well known for its extensive

shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...

ornamentation in its interiors. Studies revealed that at least eight types of seashells were used. Before its destruction, it still has two elaborately carved doors out of the original three doors. The main door on the entrance has exquisite carvings of the

Twelve Apostles In Christian theology and ecclesiology, the apostles, particularly the Twelve Apostles (also known as the Twelve Disciples or simply the Twelve), were the primary disciples of Jesus according to the New Testament. During the life and minist ...

while a side door has carved representations of

angels An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

. Former First Lady

Imelda Marcos Imelda Romualdez Marcos (; born Imelda Remedios Visitación Trinidad Romuáldez; July 2, 1929) is a Filipino politician who was First Lady of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986, wielding significant political power after her husband Ferdinand ...

was interested in purchasing the church's door for

₱ The Philippine peso sign (₱) is the currency symbol used for the Philippine peso, the official currency of the Philippines. The symbol resembles a Latin script, Latin letter P with two horizontal strokes. It differs from the currency symbol u ...

1,000,000 using government funds siphoned by her husband, Ferdinand Marcos.

Present condition

The Immaculate Conception Church of Guiuan in 2019

Due to Typhoon Haiyan, all of its original

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 ...

, roof (dated 1700s) and other church relics were damaged. Only the stone walls and

remained standing. Restoration of the church was under the supervision of the

. Funds for the reconstruction of the church amounting to $300,000 were given by the Embassy of the United States in the Philippines and ₱112 million from the National Museum of the Philippines. Restoration of the church was completed in 2019.

Notes

Bibliography

External links

* * {{World Heritage Sites in the Philippines Roman Catholic churches in Eastern Samar Guiuan Roman Catholic churches completed in 1844 1844 establishments in the Philippines National Cultural Treasures of the Philippines World Heritage Tentative List for the Philippines Spanish Colonial architecture in the Philippines Baroque church buildings in the Philippines 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the Philippines Churches in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Borongan Jubilee churches in the Philippines