Baclayon Church

Baclayon Church
Immaculate Conception Parish Church
Iglesia Parroquial de La Purísima Concepción de la Virgen María (Spanish)
The church in January 2023
Baclayon Church Location in the Visayas Show map of Visayas Baclayon Church Location in the Philippines Show map of Philippines
9°37′22″N 123°54′44″E / 9.6227°N 123.9122°E / 9.6227; 123.9122
Location	Baclayon, Bohol
Country	Philippines
Denomination	Catholic
History
Status	Parish church
Founded	1596 1717 (as Parish)
Founder(s)	Fr. Juan de Torres, SJ Fr. Gabriel Sanchez, SJ
Dedication	Immaculate Conception
Consecrated	1727; 297 years ago (1727)
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	National Cultural Treasure
Architectural type	Church building
Style	Baroque
Years built	1727, 2014–2018
Groundbreaking	2014; 10 years ago (2014) (restoration)
Completed	February 27, 2018; 6 years ago (2018-02-27) (restoration)
Specifications
Materials	Coral stones
Administration
Province	Cebu
Diocese	Tagbilaran (since 1941)
Deanery	Assumption of Our Lady
Parish	Immaculate Concepcion
Clergy
Priest(s)	Fr. Vicente Mathias M. Nunag, III
Assistant priest(s)	Fr. Felipe B. Digal
National Historical Landmarks
Designated	July 27, 1994 (1994-07-27)
Legal Basis	Resolution No. 3, s. 1994
National Cultural Treasures
Designated	2010 (2010)

The Immaculate Conception Parish Church, also known as La Purisima Concepcion de la Virgen Maria Parish Church and Baclayon Church, is a Roman Catholic church in the municipality of Baclayon, Bohol, Philippines within the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Tagbilaran. Baclayon was founded by the Jesuit priest Juan de Torres and Gabriel Sánchez in 1596, and became the oldest Christian settlement in Bohol. It was elevated as a parish in 1717 and the present coral stone church was completed in 1727. The Augustinian Recollects succeeded the Jesuits in 1768 and heavily renovated the church since then.

The church was declared a National Cultural Treasure by the National Museum of the Philippines and a National Historical Landmark by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines. Together with the churches of Maragondon, Loboc and Guiuan, the Baclayon Church was formerly included for the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List of the Philippines since 1993 under the collective group of Jesuit Churches of the Philippines. When a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck Bohol and other parts of Central Visayas in 2013, the church building sustained major damage. It was reconstructed by the National Museum of the Philippines from 2014 to 2018.