Saint William's Cathedral (Laoag)
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Saint William's Cathedral, commonly known as Laoag Cathedral, is a
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 in
Laoag City Laoag (), officially the City of Laoag (; ), is a component city and capital of the Provinces of the Philippines, province of Ilocos Norte, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 111,651 people. It is the province ...
,
Ilocos Norte Ilocos Norte (), officially the Province of Ilocos Norte (; ), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province of the Philippines located in the Ilocos Region. It is located in the northwest corner of Luzon island, bordering Cagayan and Apayao to t ...
, Philippines. It serves as the seat or central church of the Diocese of Laoag. The current church was built in 1612 by
Augustinian friars The Order of Saint Augustine (), abbreviated OSA, is a mendicant religious order of the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1244 by bringing together several eremitical groups in the Tuscany region who were following the Rule of Saint Augustine ...
to replace a wooden
chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...
.


History

The first church of Laoag was made of
wood Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...
and
thatch Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, Phragmites, water reed, Cyperaceae, sedge (''Cladium mariscus''), Juncus, rushes, Calluna, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away fr ...
when the Augustinians established the parish in 1580. The foundations of the current church were laid in 1612. It was damaged by fire in 1843 and was restored from 1873 to 1880 by the under Engineer Antonio de la Camara and Father Santiago Muniz. The church was occupied by Philippine revolutionaries in 1898, and later by the American forces in 1899. The ownership of the church was contested by the
Aglipayan The Philippine Independent Church (; ), officially referred to by its Philippine Spanish name (IFI) and colloquially called the Aglipayan Church, is an independent catholic Christian denomination, in the form of a nationalist church, in the ...
s from the
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 ...
from which the Catholic church won ownership. The church facade was renovated by adding lime plaster in 1936. It became a cathedral when the Diocese of Laoag was established in 1961. The church was again renovated from 1971 to 1972. It was slightly damaged by an earthquake in 1983.


Features

The church is known for its
Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( ) was a period in History of Italy, Italian history between the 14th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Western Europe and marked t ...
design. It also has an unusual two-storey
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 ...
, supported by two pairs of
column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...
s on each side of the arched entrance. The top of the façade holds a recessed
niche Niche may refer to: Science *Developmental niche, a concept for understanding the cultural context of child development and growth *Ecological niche, a term describing the relational position of an organism's species *Niche differentiation, in ec ...
that showcases the image of the city's
patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...
, San Guillermo el Ermitaño. It has windows made from
capiz Capiz (), officially the Province of Capiz (Capiznon language, Capiznon/Hiligaynon language, Hiligaynon: ''Kapuoran sang Capiz''; ), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the central part of the Western Visayas Regions of the Philippines ...
with
wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.05%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4.5%), or 0.25 for low carbon "mild" steel. Wrought iron is manufactured by heating and melting high carbon cast iron in an ...
screens. It has a main
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 ...
and two smaller ones on its sides. The lower level of the huge retablo contains the image of Saint William, the parish's patron saint.


Sinking Bell Tower

The church is also famous for its "Sinking Bell Tower", which sinks into the ground at a rate of an inch a year. It has survived several minor earthquakes since its construction, causing scholars to label it an
Earthquake Baroque Earthquake Baroque, or Seismic Baroque, is a style of Baroque architecture found in the Philippines and in Guatemala, which were Spanish-ruled territories that suffered destructive earthquakes during the 17th and the 18th centuries. Large public b ...
style structure. The tower, built presumably after the 1707 earthquake, has a foundation of . It is made of locally manufactured bricks joined by
molasses Molasses () is a viscous byproduct, principally obtained from the refining of sugarcane or sugar beet juice into sugar. Molasses varies in the amount of sugar, the method of extraction, and the age of the plant. Sugarcane molasses is usuall ...
and juice of sablot leaves mixed with
lime Lime most commonly refers to: * Lime (fruit), a green citrus fruit * Lime (material), inorganic materials containing calcium, usually calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide * Lime (color), a color between yellow and green Lime may also refer to: Bo ...
and
sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is usually defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural ...
, and reinforced with four massive
column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...
s on each corner and a winding stairway leading to the
belfry The belfry /ˈbɛlfri/ is a structure enclosing bells for ringing as part of a building, usually as part of a bell tower or steeple. It can also refer to the entire tower or building, particularly in continental Europe for such a tower attached ...
. It used to have a large clock on the tower's western face.


Notes


Bibliography

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External links

* * {{Roman Catholic Diocese of Laoag Roman Catholic cathedrals in the Philippines Roman Catholic churches in Ilocos Norte Buildings and structures in Laoag Marked Historical Structures of the Philippines Spanish Colonial architecture in the Philippines 1612 establishments in New Spain Churches in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Laoag