San Guillermo Parish 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 in Bacolor, Pampanga, Philippines. It is under the jurisdiction of the

Archdiocese of San Fernando In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...

. Named after

San Guillermo San Guillermo (Spanish language, Spanish for Saint William), officially the Municipality of San Guillermo, is a municipality of the Philippines, municipality in the Philippine Province, province of Isabela (province), Isabela, Philippines. Accor ...

, the town's patron saint, the church was originally constructed by the Augustinian 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 A lahar (, from ) is a violent type of mudflow or debris flow composed of a slurry of Pyroclastic rock, pyroclastic material, rocky debris and water. The material flows down from a volcano, typically along a valley, river valley. Lahars are o ...

flow from the slopes of

Mount Pinatubo Mount Pinatubo is an active stratovolcano in the Zambales Mountains in Luzon in the Philippines. Located on the tripoint of Zambales, Tarlac and Pampanga provinces, most people were unaware of its eruptive history before the pre-eruption volc ...

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 Augustinian 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 The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

and well-lighted

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 ...

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 A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accesse ...

are gilded with gold leaf. The richness of the decoration of Bacolor church depicts the advanced stage of

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

and

Rococo Rococo, less commonly Roccoco ( , ; or ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpte ...

. 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

heavily gilded with gold leaves. The rich decorations of the church depict the

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 A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

. The retablos niches are filled with centuries-old statues which were saved from destruction of the

. 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 A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred space, sacred place, such as a shrine, protected by ecclesiastical immunity. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This seconda ...

but since the lahar occurred, the citizens of Bacolor decided that the area be moved.

Museo de Bacolor

Part of the Church is the (Sacred Memorabilia of Bacolor) or Museum. File:Bacolormuseum3jf.JPG, 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 is a leading Philippine media and content company. It serves as the flagship media brand of ABS-CBN Corporation, a subsidiary of Lopez Holdings Corporation. Once the country's largest free-to-air television network, ABS-CBN has since ...

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 Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

. 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 global subscription television network owned and operated by the Philippine media conglomerate ABS-CBN Corporation. Its programming is composed primarily of imported programs produced and distri ...

'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, Inc. (also known as Viva Films, stylized as VIVA Films) is a Philippine film production and distribution company owned by Viva Communications. It was founded in 1981 by Vic del Rosario Jr. and his sister Tess Cruz. Viva Films is o ...

Gallery

File:FvfChurchPhil6921 28.JPG, Church main gate File:Bacolor Church, Pampanga, Jun 2024 (3).jpg, Close up view of the facade File:Jf9301San Guillermo Church Marriage, Bacolorfvf 01.JPG, Main altar and

reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a Church (building), church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular a ...

File:Churchbacolor2jf.JPG, Rear view of the church File:FvfBacolorCemetry6781 22.JPG, Catholic cemetery

References

External links

* * {{Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Fernando Roman Catholic churches in Pampanga Baroque church buildings in the Philippines Churches in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Fernando