San Diego de Alcala Church is a

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

Valenzuela Valenzuela may refer to: Places * Valenzuela, Paraguay * Valenzuela, Metro Manila, Philippines * Valenzuela, Spain * Valenzuela de Calatrava, Spain * Valenzuela, Louisiana Other uses * Valenzuela (surname), including a list of people with the n ...

, located about north of

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

in the

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 original church was the oldest church in the city, built by Father Juan Taranco and finished by Father Jose Valencia in 1632. Destroyed during World War II, its surviving belfry is the oldest in the city.

History

The Church of San Diego de Alcala in Brgy. Polo in Valenzuela was completed in 1632. Residents were forced into labor to complete the church after the town gained its independence in 1623 from Catangalan through the efforts of Father Juan Taranco and Don Juan Monsod, the barangay head of Polo. The main structure was destroyed by bombs during the

Japanese occupation of the Philippines The Japanese occupation of the Philippines (Filipino: ''Pananakop ng mga Japones sa Filipinas''; ja, 日本のフィリピン占領, Nihon no Firipin Senryō) occurred between 1942 and 1945, when Imperial Japan occupied the Commonwealth of the ...

in World War II. The belfry and entrance are the only parts of the four-century old edifice that remain today. They have been preserved by the citizens of Polo (now Valenzuela City).

Bell tower of San Diego de Alcala Church

The belfry or bell tower of San Diego de Alcala Church is a cultural and religious relic of the bygone

Spanish era The Spanish era ( la, Æra Hispanica), sometimes called the era of Caesar, was a calendar era (year numbering system) commonly used in the states of the Iberian Peninsula from the 5th century until the 15th, when it was phased out in favour of the ...

. A new church has since been rebuilt and renovated adjacent to the ruins, serving as an aesthetic counterpoint to the largely unchanged tower.

Feast day

Residents of barangays Polo and Poblacion celebrate the

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context d ...

of San Diego de Alcala on 12 November every year. Together with the fiesta, the town also celebrates the "Putong Polo Festival", a food festival honoring the ''putong Polo'', a local variety of the Philippine

rice cake A rice cake may be any kind of food item made from rice that has been shaped, condensed, or otherwise combined into a single object. A wide variety of rice cakes exist in many different cultures in which rice is eaten and are particularly preval ...

'' puto''."Putong Polo Festival"
Travel the Philippine Islands. Retrieved on 2013-03-06.

References

External links

* Roman Catholic churches in Metro Manila Buildings and structures in Valenzuela, Metro Manila 1632 establishments in New Spain Churches in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Malolos {{Philippines-church-stub