The Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene, also known as Saint John the Baptist Parish and informally known as Quiapo Church is a prominent Roman Catholic church Latin-rite Basilicalocated in the District of Quiapo, Manila, Philippines. The church is reputedly famous for enshrining the Black Nazarene, a dark statue of Jesus Christ which many faithful claim to have miraculous powers.
Christianity was brought to Camalig by Capt. Luis de Guzman together with Father Alonzo Jimenez, an Augustinian priest who came with the Legaspi expedition. Evangelization was started in 1578 by the Augustinian missionaries. When the Augustinians left, the Franciscan Fathers Pablo de Jesus and Bartolome Ruiz continued their work. In 1579, Camalig was formally inaugurated as a town and as a parish. The original poblacion was placed in Binanua-an. The original church and “escuela Catolica” was established in this place. In February 1814 Mayon Volcano erupted and totally destroyed Cagsawa and parts of Camalig. This prompted the town officials to transfer the church and the town government to the mountains. First, to Palanog, then to Kitapunte and then to Baligang. However, a big fire raced to the ground the church and the nearby houses. The town government was brought back to the original site in the poblacion and the church that was unscathed by the eruption of 1814 was re-occupied. A great surge of economic progress brought prosperity to Camalig. In 1842 a huge edifice built as the new church consumed all the volcanic stones of the town. Yet, only the main body of the church and the belfry were finished that year. The pyramid portion of the tower was added years later. Hundreds of stone-cutters worked daily under the supervision of Spanish engineers and the parish priest.
It took another six years before the whole structure was completed in 1848. Camalig then, could boast of having one of the strongest, most massive if not the most beautiful among the churches in the Bicol Region. According to Fr. Jose Maria Barrulo, a Spanish Franciscan assigned in Camalig after the liberation of the Philippines from the Japanese said that the church could compare to any of the cathedrals in Europe. |