The San Gregorio Magno Parish (Filipino: ''Simbahan ng Parokya ni San Gregorio Magno'';

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, Can ...

: ''Iglesia Parroquial de San Gregorio Magno''), also known as Majayjay Church and St. Gregory the Great Parish Church, is one of the oldest

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 let ...

churches 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 ...

located in the municipality of

Majayjay Majayjay, officially the Municipality of Majayjay ( tgl, Bayan ng Majayjay), is a 4th class municipality in the province of Laguna, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 27,893 people. It is located at the foot of M ...

in Laguna. It is recognized by the National Museum as a

National Cultural Treasure National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

(Level 1).

History

served as the site of early

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

in Laguna. The Augustinians first came in 1568. Along with five Augustinian priests and Juan de Salcedo, nephew of Miguel López de Legazpi, they started to evangelize the sceptical townsmen led by Gat Yantok. In 1571, the

Franciscan , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

s established a mission town with Don Gaspar Osorio, Agustín Osorio, Juan Osorio, Juan de Mendoza, Ventura Mag-olop, Aman Lingasan and Martín Siasip. The first church was constructed by locals in 1575 near the May-it river and was made of ''nipa'' and

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, ...

and was later burned in 1576. In 1578, Franciscans Fathers

Juan de Plasencia Miguel Juan de Plasencia () was a Spanish friar of the Franciscan Order. He was among the first group of Franciscan missionaries who arrived in the Philippines on 2 July 1578. He spent most of his missionary life in the Philippines, where he fou ...

and Diego Oropesa started to evangelize the town. A church, still of ''nipa '' and

, was built that same year under the patronage of Saint

Gregory the Great Pope Gregory I ( la, Gregorius I; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great, was the bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 to his death. He is known for instigating the first recorded large-scale mission from Rome, the Gregoria ...

. Due to the lack of religious men, the first parish priest of Majajay, Father Antonio Nombela was only assigned in 1594. Under his pastorship, a long robe worn by wives to the church, called ''lambón'' was first used in the Philippines. In 1599, the ''Superior Gobierno'' authorized the construction of a stone church. While awaiting its construction, the makeshift church was burned in 1606. Majayjay also served as

infirmary Infirmary may refer to: *Historically, a hospital, especially a small hospital *A first aid room in a school, prison, or other institution *A dispensary (an office that dispenses medications) *A clinic A clinic (or outpatient clinic or ambu ...

for the old religious men until 1606 before it was transferred to Lumban. Construction of the stone church began in 1616 and was completed in 1649 with the help of Maestro de Campo Don Buenaventura de Mendoza. The church was again partially burned in 1660. Rehabilitation started in 1711 and finished in 1730 by 14,000 people on

forced labor Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, violence including death, or other forms of ex ...

and a rehabilitation cost of $26,000 by Father Jose de Puertollano. Instead of rebuilding the church, Father Puertollano decided to sandwich the ruins between two layers of brick resulting in an unusual wall thickness of . It took 19 years for the people of Majayjay to complete the church which was made of

volcanic tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock cont ...

with red tiles and prime lumber. On completion in 1730, the church became the biggest in the Philippines A century later, the stone church was destroyed by typhoon and was repaired in 1839, 1842 and 1848. The roof was replaced with

galvanized iron Galvanization or galvanizing ( also spelled galvanisation or galvanising) is the process of applying a protective zinc coating to steel or iron, to prevent rusting. The most common method is hot-dip galvanizing, in which the parts are submerged ...

in 1892 under the supervision of Father Gregorio Platero. During the American occupation, the church served as headquarters of the American army. Due to damage brought about by the Spanish and American revolution, the church was again repaired in 1912. In 1954, the church was placed under the government's rehabilitation program with the help of the National Conservation Society of the Philippines. In 2001, it was declared as a

by the National Museum.

Features

The Romanesque church of Majayjay is long, wide and meters high. Its

façade A façade () (also written facade) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loan word from the French (), which means ' frontage' or ' face'. In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important aspect ...

has three levels, each level scaled proportionally and topped by 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 pedim ...

with a circular window. The 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 ...

consists of a huge wooden door of the main portal,

choir loft A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

windows and saint's

niche Niche may refer to: Science *Developmental niche, a concept for understanding the cultural context of child development *Ecological niche, a term describing the relational position of an organism's species *Niche differentiation, in ecology, the ...

. The interior contains a ''retablo mayor'' and four other minor

retablo A retablo is a devotional painting, especially a small popular or folk art one using iconography derived from traditional Catholic church art. More generally ''retablo'' is also the Spanish term for a retable or reredos above an altar, whether ...

s with intricate designs. The floor is tiled with ''

azulejo ''Azulejo'' (, ; from the Arabic ''al- zillīj'', ) is a form of Spanish and Portuguese painted tin-glazed ceramic tilework. ''Azulejos'' are found on the interior and exterior of churches, palaces, ordinary houses, schools, and nowadays, r ...

'' and the walls have been preserved with some alterations. The five-storey square

belltower 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 tower ...

with a conical roof and ballustrated windows on each polygonal level is connected to the ''langit-langitan'', a cat-walk above the ceiling which leads to the crossing over the

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building wi ...

. The belfry has arched windows each with a bell trimmed with finials and a large antique bell on top. It also has a large side door on the right side of the church. Today, the church contains antique images of ''santos'', reliquaries and century-old liturgical objects.

Convent

The huge

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 Anglic ...

(also ''convento'') of the church, which provides a good view of Laguna de Bay, is one of the best preserved ''convento'' in the country and is the earliest surviving example of its kind. It houses a small

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

of old parish documents and ecclesiastical silver. A small portion of the church was converted into the present-day ''Liceo de Majayjay'', a Catholic school under the supervision of the local parish and the Diocesan Catholic School System of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Pablo.

Chapel of ''Nuestra Señora de la Porteria ''

The

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

of ''Nuestra Señora de la Porteria'' (Our Lady of the Gate) also known as the ''Ermita chapel'' was originally constructed as a ''tribunal'' during the Spanish period. The image of the ''Nuestra Señora de la Porteria'', which was brought to Majayjay by Spanish missionaries in 1759, was enshrined in the former court building in 1760.

Notes

Bibliography

External links

{{Roman Catholic Diocese of San Pablo , state=autocollapse National Cultural Treasures of the Philippines Roman Catholic churches in Laguna (province) Marked Historical Structures of the Philippines Spanish Colonial architecture in the Philippines Churches in the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Pablo