The Puerto Princesa Cathedral ( fil, Katedral ng Puerto Princesa), also known as the Immaculate Conception Cathedral Parish ( fil, Parokyang Katedral ng Kalinis-linisang Paglilihi), is a

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 ...

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

in the city of

Puerto Princesa Puerto Princesa, officially the City of Puerto Princesa (Cuyonon: ''Siyudad i'ang Puerto Princesa''; fil, Lungsod ng Puerto Princesa), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Mimaropa region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, ...

Palawan Palawan (), officially the Province of Palawan ( cyo, Probinsya i'ang Palawan; tl, Lalawigan ng Palawan), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in ...

in western

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 ...

. It is in the

Neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

architectural Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings o ...

tradition and is the mother church of the

Apostolic Vicariate of Puerto Princesa The Apostolic Vicariate of Puerto Princesa is a Latin Church missionary jurisdiction or apostolic vicariate of the Catholic Church located in the Province of Palawan, Philippines. Its cathedra is within Immaculate Conception Cathedral in the ...

which covers the municipalities of Palawan west of Puerto Princesa City. It is located at the border of

Barangay A barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as barrio (abbreviated as Bo.), is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district, or ward. In metropolitan ...

Matiyaga

Poblacion ''Poblacion'' (literally "town" or "settlement" in Spanish language in the Philippines, Spanish; ) is the common term used for the administrative center, central, downtown, old town or central business district area of a Philippines, Philippi ...

and Liwanag Poblacion, near the

Port of Puerto Princesa The Port of Puerto Princesa is the Palawan baseport of the Philippine Ports Authority. It is located about Latitude 09° 44"N, Longitude 118° 43"E, on the western side of Puerto Princesa, westward of Princesa Strait, and the western side of Pala ...

. At 118° east

longitude Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east–west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek letter l ...

, it is the westernmost cathedral in the country.

History

The first

mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

in Puerto Princesa, initially a

barrio ''Barrio'' () is a Spanish language, Spanish word that means "Quarter (urban subdivision), quarter" or "neighborhood". In the modern Spanish language, it is generally defined as each area of a city, usually delimited by functional (e.g. residenti ...

, was held at the site of the present cathedral on

March 10 Events Pre-1600 * 241 BC – First Punic War: Battle of the Aegates: The Romans sink the Carthaginian fleet bringing the First Punic War to an end. * 298 – Roman Emperor Maximian concludes his campaign in North Africa and makes a t ...

1872 Events January–March * January 12 – Yohannes IV is crowned Emperor of Ethiopia in Axum, the first ruler crowned in that city in over 500 years. * February 2 – The government of the United Kingdom buys a number of forts on ...

by the

Augustinian Recollect The Order of Augustinian Recollects (OAR) is a mendicant Catholic religious order of friars and nuns. It is a reformist offshoot from the Augustinian hermit friars and follows the same Rule of St. Augustine. History The Order was founded in 16t ...

Fray Ezequiél Moreno (now a

saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...

), six days after the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

expedition arrived in the area. Subsequently, Moreno established the town and its parish mission under the patronage of the

Immaculate Conception The Immaculate Conception is the belief that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. It is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church, meaning that it is held to be a divinely revealed truth w ...

of the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, on December 14, 1944, the parish witnessed the Palawan massacre at the adjacent Plaza Cuartel where more or less 150

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

soldiers were burned by the

Imperial Japanese The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent forma ...

forces. The church has been rebuilt several times since its establishment, wherein the present structure took almost a century before it was completed in 1961 to serve as a cathedral of the then Palawan Apostolic Vicariate under the helm of Most Rev. Gregorio I. Espiga. The facade and interior are reminiscent of the architecture of churches in

Medieval Europe In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

. On

December 8 Events Pre-1600 * 395 – Later Yan is defeated by its former vassal Northern Wei at the Battle of Canhe Slope. * 757 – The poet Du Fu returns to Chang'an as a member of Emperor Xuanzong's court, after having escaped the city durin ...

, 2014, on the cathedral's patronal feast day, the NHCP unveiled a historical marker of Saint Ezequiél Moreno, underlining his contribution to the founding of the city. At present, the cathedral and the Rizal Park at its front, is usually included in the itinerary of city tour packages around Puerto Princesa, including, but not limited to

Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, Philippines is one of seven operating units of the Bureau of Corrections under the Department of Justice. History American territorial period The Spanish regime had earlier ...

, Palawan Heritage Center, Palawan Butterfly Ecological Garden and Tribal Village, and Palawan Wildlife Rescue and Conservation Center (Crocodile Farm).

Gallery

File:Palawan Catholic Church.JPG, The cathedral and the Rizal Park as seen from a distance File:The_Immaculate_Conception_Cathedral_-_panoramio_(2).jpg, The Neo-Gothic interior of the cathedral in 2008 File:Broken Angel (45610726).jpeg, A holy water font at the church entrance File:The Immaculate Conception Cathedral - panoramio.jpg, A view of the cathedral's right belfry

References

External links

* Facebook pag

*{{commons category inline, Puerto Princesa Cathedral Buildings and structures in Puerto Princesa Marked Historical Structures of the Philippines Spanish Colonial architecture in the Philippines Roman Catholic cathedrals in the Philippines Gothic Revival church buildings in the Philippines 1872 establishments in the Spanish Empire 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the Philippines 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the Philippines