The San Sebastian Cathedral, also referred to as the Tarlac Cathedral, is a post-war, Neo-Gothic church located in Brgy. Mabini,

Tarlac City Tarlac City, officially the City of Tarlac ( pam, Lakanbalen ning Tarlac; pag, Siyudad na Tarlac; ilo, Siudad ti Tarlac; fil, Lungsod ng Tarlac ), is a 1st class component city and capital of the province of Tarlac, Philippines. According to ...

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 cathedral, which was dedicated to

Saint Sebastian Saint Sebastian (in Latin: ''Sebastianus''; Narbo, Gallia Narbonensis, Roman Empire c. AD 255 – Rome, Italia, Roman Empire c. AD 288) was an early Christian saint and martyr. According to traditional belief, he was killed during the Diocle ...

in 1686, is the seat of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Tarlac The Roman Catholic Diocese of Tarlac ( la, Dioecesis Tarlacensis) is a diocese of the Roman Catholic Church comprising the whole civil province of Tarlac (except Camp Servillano Aquino in San Miguel, Tarlac City, which belongs to the Military Ordi ...

Parish history

The town of Tarlac was said to have been established in 1686 by priests assigned to

Magalang Magalang, officially the Municipality of Magalang ( pam, Balen ning Magalang; tl, Bayan ng Magalang), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Pampanga, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 124,188 people. Mag ...

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 ...

. The town was managed by the Augustinians from

until in 1725, a petition was brought to the attention of the Father Provincial to separate Tarlac from its distant matrix. In 1727, the separation was fulfilled with Tarlac being declared an independent parish. In 1757, however, the parish of Tarlac was annexed back to

for quite some time.

Architectural history

The first parochial building of Tarlac is attributed to Father Agustin Barriocanal in 1740. Later on, in 1872, a wood and stone church was erected by Father Baltasar Gamarra. Construction of the said structure lasted until 1875 by Father Tomas Fito and was completed by Father Fermin Sardon in 1890. The finished church was said to have been identical to the church of Concepcion. The church was completely destroyed during the war, in 1945. It was later rebuilt into the present-day church structure.

References

External links

* {{commons category inline, San Sebastian Cathedral of Tarlac Roman Catholic churches in Tarlac Roman Catholic cathedrals in the Philippines Buildings and structures in Tarlac City 1686 establishments in the Philippines Gothic Revival church buildings in the Philippines Roman Catholic churches completed in 1686 17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the Philippines