The Church of Pila, Laguna

* the interior of the church

One does not have to go to far places to take a sneak peek into one’s past, especially for one who lives in the beautiful province of Laguna.

Pila, Laguna seems too much of ‘a province town.’ But here, one could definitely breath the air of the past century as the town play host to some houses that still carry the design, the motif (for lack of a better term) of the country’s glorious cultural past. Let me just consider for now the town church.

* one of the many designs inside

The very first church to be erected in Pila, together with a convent, was done in 1618. At a much earlier time, a certain Reverend Juan de Florencia became the town’s first priest. From the source I got, it implied that the town and the church perhaps were originally located in a place called Pagalangan. The year 1600 saw the transfer of the town to the present place. Much the same with the problems of San Juan, Batangas, and Bay, Laguna (as I have alluded to in an earlier entry), the constant flooding was the reason for the transfer. The new church was built at the start of the 1800s. The accompanying convent was finished by 1849.

* they have certainly preserved the church as they still have these features usually found in ‘classic’ churches – tombs

* the patron saint himself (?)

* shot from the church’s side courtyard

The church was later proclaimed as the Diocesan Shrine of St. Anthony of Padua in 2002. Certainly, the Diocese of San Pablo is really big as it still covers this church in Pila.

I shall post here next the round of the houses around the town proper. Although minimal in historical accounts, it would be a treat to see such houses to enrich our appreciation of the culture of that era.