The Nuestra Señora del Pilar Parish Church, also known as the San Simon Church, is a 19th-century

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

church located at Barangay San Juan, San Simon,

Pampanga Pampanga, officially the Province of Pampanga ( pam, Lalawigan ning Pampanga; tl, Lalawigan ng Pampanga ), is a province in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. Lying on the northern shore of Manila Bay, Pampanga is bordered by Tarlac ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. The parish church, under the protection of its patron saints, the Virgin of the Pillar and

Saint Peter Saint Peter; he, שמעון בר יונה, Šimʿōn bar Yōnāh; ar, سِمعَان بُطرُس, translit=Simʿa̅n Buṭrus; grc-gre, Πέτρος, Petros; cop, Ⲡⲉⲧⲣⲟⲥ, Petros; lat, Petrus; ar, شمعون الصفـا, Sham'un ...

, is under the Archdiocese of San Fernando.

History and architecture

The convent of San Simon was established by the

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

on April 20, 1771, and was placed under the patronage of Apostle Simon Peter. The town was formerly named after its secondary patron,

Our Lady of the Pillar Our Lady of the Pillar ( es, Nuestra Señora del Pilar) is the name given to the Blessed Virgin Mary in the context of the traditional belief that Mary, while living in Jerusalem, supernaturally appeared to the Apostle James the Greater in AD 4 ...

, and was purportedly named after its founder Mariano del Pilar de los Reyes. It was later renamed San Simon by Governor-General

Simón de Anda y Salazar Simón de Anda y Salazar (28 October 1709 – 30 October 1776) was a Spanish Basque governor of the Philippines from July 1770 to 30 October 1776. Oidor at the Royal Audience of Manila and Lieutenant Governor De Anda y Salazar was an Oidor of th ...

who named the town from his namesake upon the recommendation of his close allies, the Augustinian Friars. Governor-General Anda moved the capital of the colony to Pampanga a few years before the founding of the town due to the 1762 British Invasion. Not much historical records are available regarding the construction of the current church other than that a stone edifice was constructed by Father Benito Ubierna in 1870. A certain Father Bernabe built the convent in 1889. Both structures were razed by fire by Filipino revolutionaries on May 5, 1898. Much of the stone walls of the church are intact while the

façade A façade () (also written facade) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a Loanword, loan word from the French language, French (), which means 'frontage' or 'face'. In architecture, the façade of a building is often t ...

and bell tower has been remodeled. The façade sports a triangular

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...

, three triple-arched windows on its second level and a concrete porte-cochere. To its left stands the rectangular belfry topped with a pagoda-like canopy.

Gallery

File:FvfSanSimonChurch9335 07.JPG,

Convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

File:FvfSanSimonChurch9324 08.JPG, Convent entrance File:FvfSanSimonChurch9324 10.JPG, Side walls with pyramidal

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 ...

File:FvfSanSimonChurch9335 13.JPG, Main

portal Portal often refers to: * Portal (architecture), an opening in a wall of a building, gate or fortification, or the extremities (ends) of a tunnel Portal may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Gaming * ''Portal'' (series), two video games ...

with steel doors File:FvfSanSimonChurch9381 08.JPG, Side portal decorated with a triangular

File:FvfSanSimonChurch9427 15.JPG, Crucifix File:FvfSanSimonChurch9458 18.JPG, Dome File:FvfSanSimonChurch9427 13.JPG, View of church

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 ...

File:FvfSanSimonChurch9458 14.JPG, Main altarpiece File:FvfSanSimonChurch9458 01.JPG, Side altarpiece with image of the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

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