The Santa Monica Parish Church ( hil, Simbahan sang Parokya sang Santa Monica; fil, Simbahan ng Parokya ng Santa Mónica; es, Iglesia Parroquial de Santa Mónica), also called Panay Church, is a historic church in

Panay Panay is the sixth-largest and fourth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total land area of and has a total population of 4,542,926 as of 2020 census. Panay comprises 4.4 percent of the entire population of the country. The City o ...

, near

Roxas City Roxas City, officially the City of Roxas (Capiznon language, Capiznon/ hil, Dakbanwa sang Roxas; fil, Lungsod ng Roxas), is a 3rd class Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, component city and capital of the Provinces of the Philippi ...

in the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

of Capiz, on

island in the

Western Visayas Western Visayas ( hil, Kabisay-an Nakatundan; tl, Kanlurang Kabisayaan or ''Kanlurang Visayas'') is an administrative region in the Philippines, numerically designated as Region VI. It consists of six provinces (Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimara ...

region of the Philippines. It was built in 1884 on the site of an earlier church, built in 1774 by Miguel Murguia, which was gravely damaged by the

typhoon A typhoon is a mature tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere. This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, and is the most active tropical cyclone basin on Earth, accounting for a ...

of 17 January 1875. The church is built of coral blocks and is approximately 70 metres long, 25 m in width and 18 m in height; the walls are about 3 metres thick. The church has an unusually large bell, the largest in the country and in all of

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

. This was cast by Juan Reina in about 1884, using sacks of coin given by the people of the town; it weighs more than 10 tonnes. In 1997 the church was declared a National Historical Landmark by the

National Historical Commission of the Philippines The National Historical Commission of the Philippines ( fil, Pambansang Komisyong Pangkasaysayan ng Pilipinas, abbreviated NHCP) is a government agency of the Philippines. Its mission is "the promotion of Philippine history and cultural herita ...

Image gallery

File:Church of Panay Historical Marker.JPG, NHI Historical marker installed in 1997 File:Part of facade of Church of Panay.JPG, Façade File:Main Altar at Church of Panay.jpg, Main altar File:Santo Tomas de Villanueva.JPG, Statue of Santo Tomas de Villanueva File:Largest bell in the Philippines and Asia.JPG, The large bell File:Inscription of the Largest Bell in the Philippines and Asia.JPG, Inscription on the largest bell File:Smaller Bell at Church of Panay.JPG, One of the smaller bells File:West side of the Church of Panay.jpg, West side of the church File:Coral stone masonry of the Church of Panay.jpg, Coral stone masonry File:Coral stone.jpg, Coral stone masonry File:Our Lady of Fatima Grotto at Sta. Monica Church, Panay.jpg, Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto at the foot of the bell tower File:Stairway to choir loft and Entrance Door of the Church of Panay.jpg, Stairway to the choir loft File:Original Roof Truss of the Church of Panay.jpg, Former roof truss of the church File:Artefacts and memorabilia of Church of Panay.jpg, Artefacts File:Bas-relief work of artist Joseph Bergaño.jpg, ''Bas-relief'' by Joseph Bergaño, 1770s

References

{{reflist, refs= Pedro G. Galende (1987)
''Angels in stone: architecture of Augustinian churches in the Philippines''
Metro Manila, Philippines: G.A. Formoso Publishing. {{ISBN, 9789718575000. .n.(1997). Cast iron plaque on Panay Church. National Historical Commission of the Philippines. Photograph accessed April 2016. Tom Le Bas (editor) (2013). Insight Guides: Philippines Singapore: APA. {{ISBN, 9781780051222. Churches in Capiz Roman Catholic churches in Capiz

Image gallery

See also

References