The Archdiocesan Shrine of Santo Niño, also known as Santo Niño de Tondo Parish or Tondo 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

Tondo, Manila Tondo is a district located in Manila, Philippines. It is the largest, in terms of area and population, of Manila's sixteen districts, with a census-estimated 654,220 people in 2020. It consists of two congressional districts. It is also the se ...

established by 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 ...

. It is the home of the second oldest Sto. Niño in the Philippines, next to the Sto. Niño De Cebu (1521). The Tondo church is also the first parish church in Luzon erected by the May 3, 1572 statute of the Province of the Holy Name of Jesus, with Tambobong (Malabon), Kalookan (Caloocan), Betis (Pampanga), Calumpit (Bulacan) as its first vesitas. It is under the jurisdiction of the

Archdiocese of Manila 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 associate ...

. The church houses an image of the

Infant Jesus The Christ Child—also known as Baby Jesus, Infant Jesus, Child Jesus, Divine Child, Divine Infant and the Holy Child—refers to Jesus Christ during his early years. The term refers to a period of Jesus' life, described in the canonical Gospe ...

which originally came from

Acapulco Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , ; ), is a city and Port of Acapulco, major seaport in the Political divisions of Mexico, state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Located on a deep, semicirc ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

and was handed over by a wealthy merchant to the

Archbishop of Manila The Archdiocese of Manila (; ; ) is the archdiocese of the Latin Church, Latin Rite of the Catholic Church in the Philippines, Catholic Church in Metro Manila, Catholic Church in the Philippines, Philippines, encompassing the cities of Manila, ...

at that time, who later turned it over to the parish priest of Tondo, Manila. Since 1572, the image of the Santo Niño has been enshrined in this church.

History

The church, one of the earliest churches established by the Spanish friars in

Luzon Luzon ( , ) is the largest and most populous List of islands in the Philippines, island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the List of islands of the Philippines, Philippine archipelago, it is the economic and political ce ...

, was founded by the

who were the first

Catholic religious order In the Catholic Church, a religious order is a community of consecrated life with members that profess solemn vows. They are classed as a type of Religious institute (Catholic), religious institute. Subcategories of religious orders are: * can ...

to arrive in the Philippines. The Augustinian Convent in Tondo was approved by the provincial chapter on May 3, 1572. Its ''visita''s were Lubao, Betis and Calumpit. Fray Alonzo Alvarado, OSA was the first Augustinian religious to direct the church. In 1572, Tondo Church added ''visita''s in northern suburbs, including Malolos. Through Fray Diego Ordoñez de Vivar, Tondo extended its ecclesiastical territory to Morong. Construction of the first stone

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 ...

is believed to have started in 1611 under Fray Alonso Guerrero, then minister of Tondo. The convent of Tondo was relieved of its ten percent contribution (

tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Modern tithes are normally voluntary and paid in money, cash, cheques or v ...

) to Manila in 1620 due to the needed costly repairs of the convent and the church. This resolution was repeated the following year due to needed assistance to be provided for the father provincial who was then staying in Tondo. During 1625, Fray Antonio de Ocampo pawned the convent for 800 pesos, the sum to be spent during a three-year term improvement of the house facilities like the , staircase, etc. It is believed that the construction of the church and convent was finalized at around this time. In 1641, the prior was authorized to repair the church due to the turmoil caused by the

Sangley Sangley (English plural: ''Sangleys''; Spanish plural: ''Sangleyes'') and Mestizo de Sangley (Sangley mestizo, ''mestisong Sangley'', ''chino mestizo'' or Chinese mestizo) are archaic terms used in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial ...

s and in addition,

water cistern A cistern (; , ; ) is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and rainwater harvesting, store rainwater. To prevent leakage, the interior of the cistern is often lined with hydraulic plaster ...

s were installed to save budget for purchasing. Four years after, the church was in need of immediate repair because it was devastated again by the

1645 Luzon earthquake The 1645 Luzon earthquake was one of the most destructive earthquakes to hit the Philippines. It occurred on November 30 at about 08:00 PM local time on Luzon Island in the northern part of the country. The island was struck by a 7.5 tremor pro ...

. The repairs and restoration were done and the "church looked magnificent and strong in its full masonry construction". This magnificence was short-lived because, in 1661, Governor Sabiniano Manrique de Lara who feared Koseng (

Koxinga Zheng Chenggong (; 27 August 1624 – 23 June 1662), born Zheng Sen () and better known internationally by his honorific title Koxinga (, from Taiwanese: ''kok sèⁿ iâ''), was a Southern Ming general who resisted the Qing conquest of Chin ...

), a Chinese pirate from Hermosa Island (

Formosa Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The island of Taiwan, formerly known to Westerners as Formosa, has an area of and makes up 99% of the land under ROC control. It lies about across the Taiwan Strait f ...

, now Taiwan) might fortify himself inside the structure. He ordered that the structure be pulled down. According to a clause of the Chapter of 1661, "the convent suffered so much during the war of the Sangleys that now it cannot be sufficient by itself". The income of Sangley stores, the alms for the souls in

Purgatory In Christianity, Purgatory (, borrowed into English language, English via Anglo-Norman language, Anglo-Norman and Old French) is a passing Intermediate state (Christianity), intermediate state after physical death for purifying or purging a soul ...

, some donations and tax exemption were utilized for the rebuilding of the church and the convent. In 1714, the Private Definitory proposed that the church and convent of Tondo pay back from their own properties the funds that were spent for the reconstructions of the church. In 1728, the convent used 2,000 pesos from the provincial funds to renovate and enlarge the church. The facade and the two towers that were about to fall were reconstructed in 1734. This rebuilding was done during the term of Fr. Diego Bergaño. The building was damaged again by the earthquake of 1740 and was repaired the next year. The church was heavily damaged again by another earthquake in 1863 and was rebuilt for the third time by Fr. Manuel Diez Gonzalez. The restoration was completed by Fr. Casimiro Herrero, parish priest of Tondo from 1874 to 1880, who followed the plans of architect Luciano Oliver in 1873. For the first time in the country, steel framing was used for 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 ...

and iron sheets for the roofing. Condrado Gregorio took over the construction from Oliver and used , which came from England. Fr. Mariano Gil led the construction of the cemetery during his priorship from 1889 to 1898. The fence was designed by architect Gregorio N. Santos. Walls made of stone were imported from Guadalupe and Meycauayan. The entire construction project costed 2,150 pesos. The organ was imported from the renowned ''Amezua Organeros'' of Barcelona, Spain and was installed in 1893. It had one main keyboard with 56 keys and a pédalier with 19 keys and four combinations. In 1898, Fr. Pablo Alvarez bought a molave door for 1470 pesos to be used as the main entrance door. Church services came to a halt when it was used as a during the

Japanese occupation of the Philippines The Japanese occupation of the Philippines (Filipino language, Filipino: ''Pananakop ng mga Hapones sa Pilipinas''; ) occurred between 1942 and 1945, when the Empire of Japan, Japanese Empire occupied the Commonwealth of the Philippines during Wo ...

. The services were held in the house of Primo Arambulo at Santiago de Vera Street. During the last days of the Japanese occupation, the church was reopened for thousands of refugees. In 1997, aside from major repairs,

Carillon bell A carillon ( , ) is a pitched percussion instrument that is played with a keyboard and consists of at least 23 bells. The bells are cast in bronze, hung in fixed suspension, and tuned in chromatic order so that they can be sounded harmoni ...

s were installed under the term of Msgr. Emmanuel Sunga as Parish Priest.

Architectural style

The structural envelope is characterized by minimal ornamentation with Ionic rectangular

pilaster In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...

s attached at the main facade. Massive

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient (typically Gothic) buildings, as a means of providing support to act ...

es also support the unproportional

s of the

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 ...

s. There are also

blind arch A blind arch is an arch found in the wall of a building that has been infilled with solid construction and so cannot serve as a passageway, door or window.''A Dictionary of Architecture''; Fleming, John; Honour, Hugh & Pevsner, Nikolaus (1966) ...

ed openings that contrast with the rectangular voids and a triangular

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

. The neoclassical architectural style has its big influence the construction of the church and

convent A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

. In its interiors, it is composed of a main 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 ...

that is flanked by two

aisle An aisle is a linear space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, in buildings such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parliaments, courtrooms, ...

s that are linked by solid

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...

s. The internal space spans in length, in width and in height.

Feast Day of Sto. Niño de Tondo

The feast day of Sto. Niño in Tondo is celebrated in the third Sunday of January. The fiesta in Tondo has the biggest participation in Manila, not only because Tondo is the most populous district in the city and poorest but perhaps because of the many anecdotes connected with the Sto. Niño of Tondo. According to the Philippine Historical Commission, the people of Tondo celebrated the feast day with a fluvial procession that "attracted thousands of visitors". Tondo's terrain at that time consisted of waterways and tributaries which were connected to

Manila Bay Manila Bay (; ) is a natural harbor that serves the Port of Manila (on Luzon), in the Philippines. Strategically located around the Manila, capital city of the Philippines, Manila Bay facilitated commerce and trade between the Philippines and ...

, a probable reason why the present stone church of Tondo was constructed on elevated ground (several meters above sea level) to prevent sea waters from inundating the Church.

Nick Joaquin Nicomedes "Nick" Marquez Joaquin (; May 4, 1917 – April 29, 2004) was a Filipino writer and journalist best known for his short story, short stories and novels in the English language. He also wrote using the pen name Quijano de Manila. Joaq ...

writes, "historically, the devotion to Santo Niño (in general) outranks all others because the first church in the Philippines was built to enshrine an image of the Santo Niño". In his book entitled ''Almanac for Manileños'' (Published in 1979), Joaquin describes the previous celebrations of the fiesta: The fiesta of the Santo Niño has since been called the "Lakbayaw Festival". The name of the festival is a

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

of the

Tagalog Tagalog may refer to: Language * Tagalog language, a language spoken in the Philippines ** Old Tagalog, an archaic form of the language ** Batangas Tagalog, a dialect of the language * Tagalog script, the writing system historically used for Tagal ...

- Filipino words (meaning "to journey") and (meaning "to dance"). It essentially means "a joyful journey with the Lord". The current name has become popular because of the many contingents of dancers—particually males—who take part on the parade on the streets of Tondo on the Saturday before the 3rd Sunday of January – a homage of the dancing of the former land segments of what was once the fluvial procession.

Gallery

File:Tondo Church 21.JPG, Northern facade File:Tondo Church 19.JPG,

Portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...

File:Tondo Church 23.JPG, Main

portal Portal may refer to: Arts and entertainment Gaming * ''Portal'' (series), a series of video games developed by Valve ** ''Portal'' (video game), a 2007 video game, the first in the series ** '' Portal 2'', the 2011 sequel ** '' Portal Stori ...

File:Tondo Church 01.JPG, One of the bell towers File:Tondo Church 05.JPG, Monument of

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the Ap ...

References

External links