Saint Raymond of Peñafort Parish Church, commonly known as Malaueg Church or Rizal Church, is an early 17th-century

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

located at Brgy. Poblacion,

Rizal Rizal most commonly refers to: * Rizal (province), a province of the Philippines * José Rizal, Filipino national hero whom the province is named after Rizal may also refer to: People * Akmal Rizal Ahmad Rakhli, Malaysian footballer * Atep Ri ...

Cagayan Cagayan ( ), officially the Province of Cagayan (; ; ; isnag language, Isnag: ''Provinsia nga Cagayan''; ivatan language, Ivatan: ''Provinsiya nu Cagayan''; ; ), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Cag ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. The parish church, with Saint Raymond of Peñafort as its titular patron, is under the jurisdiction of the

Archdiocese of Tuguegarao The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tuguegarao is a Latin Church metropolitan archdiocese of the Catholic Church in the Philippines. Tuguegarao is a river delta city that became center of the archdiocese in the province of Cagayan, on the island ...

. The church structure has been declared a National Cultural Treasure by the

National Museum of the Philippines The National Museum of the Philippines () is an umbrella government organization that oversees a number of national museums in the Philippines, including Ethnography, ethnographic, Anthropology, anthropological, Archaeology, archaeological, an ...

in 2001. A marker, bearing a brief history of the church, was installed on the church's facade by the

National Historical Commission of the Philippines The National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP; ) is a government agency of the Philippines. Its mission is "the promotion of Philippine history and cultural heritage through research, dissemination, conservation, sites management ...

Parish history

The site of present-day Rizal (formerly Malaueg) was a significant mission center for the

Dominican missionaries Dominican may refer to: Religious communities * Dominican Order, a Catholic order, formally the Order of Preachers * Anglican Order of Preachers, loosely referred to as Dominicans Dominican Republic * Dominican Republic, on the island of Hispani ...

spreading Christianity on the

Cagayan Valley Cagayan Valley (; ), designated as Region II, is an Regions of the Philippines, administrative region in the Philippines. Located in the northeastern section of Luzon, it is composed of five Provinces of the Philippines, Philippine provinces: ...

and the foot of the

Cordillera mountain range The Cordillera Central or Cordillera Range is a massive mountain range long north–south and east-west situated in the north-central part of the island of Luzon, in the Philippines. The mountain range encompasses all provinces of the Cordil ...

. The Dominican priests officially established Malaueg in 1607 and laid the foundations of the present church in November 26, 1617.

Architecture

The church, made mostly of fired

brick A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...

s, is unique among other Spanish-era churches established by the Dominicans in the

Cagayan valley Cagayan Valley (; ), designated as Region II, is an Regions of the Philippines, administrative region in the Philippines. Located in the northeastern section of Luzon, it is composed of five Provinces of the Philippines, Philippine provinces: ...

region due to its smaller size and novel design. The church's brickwork has been described as “of free use” and that it exudes an earthy feel. Attention on the

façade A façade or facade (; ) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loanword from the French language, French (), which means "frontage" or "face". In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important asp ...

is focused on the main arched

portal Portal may refer to: Arts and entertainment Gaming * ''Portal'' (series), a series of video games developed by Valve ** ''Portal'' (video game), a 2007 video game, the first in the series ** '' Portal 2'', the 2011 sequel ** '' Portal Stori ...

which is framed by a plastered white wall capped with a small triangular

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

. The main doorway is flanked with saints’ niches. At the upper level of the façade are rectangular windows set in recessed triangular pedimented frames. A

relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...

of a cross serves as ornamentation to the triangular pediment capping the entire façade. The three-level

bell tower 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 to ...

stands on the left of the façade. It features a

conical roof A conical roof or cone roof is a cone-shaped roof that is circular at its base and terminates in a point. Distribution Conical roofs are frequently found on top of towers in medieval town fortifications and castles, where they may either sit d ...

and

finial A finial () or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a dome, spire, tower, roo ...

s jutting out of the corners of each level.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Raymond of Penafort Parish Church (Malaueg) Roman Catholic churches in Cagayan National Cultural Treasures of the Philippines Baroque church buildings in the Philippines Churches in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tuguegarao