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Maragondon Church

The Our Lady of the Assumption Parish Church


(Spanish: Iglesia Parroquial de Nuestra Seora de la
Asuncin), commonly known as Maragondon Church,
is the only heritage structure in the municipality
of Maragondon, Cavite, Philippines declared by the
National Museum as a National Cultural Treasure.

History

Before 1611 Maragondon was established as a separate


town from Silang by the Jesuit Angelo Armano. Before
this year the Franciscans were already actively evangelizing the area.[1] In 1630 a second church with more elaborate furnishings was completed. During this year hacienda in Looc, straddling the boundaries of Batangas and
Cavite, bequeathed to the Jesuits Colegio de Manila, was
added to Maragondons jurisdiction. In 1633 a new and
bigger church was built to replace the older and smaller
one, the church stone for some time between 1646 to
1649. The government ordered its demolition for fear
that the Dutch, who were at war with Spain, would use
it and other churches near Manila for fortication. The
orders were apparently implemented because on May 16,
1650 a license was given to the Jesuits to build a house
and church of wood in Maragondon to replace the one
that had been demolished.[1]

Interior of the Our Lady of the Assumption Parish Church

with oral designs of dierent shapes and ships and castles carved on it. Both in and out, the church fabric
made of river stones are covered with a layer of paletada
(stucco).[1]

The elevation found in the faade is emphasized in the


interior by the use of pilasters that taper the wards. This
produces a dizzying eect, as the pillars appear to soar up
and sway. The main roof beams are exposed and emblazoned with biblical and commemorative captions. Over
the nave the phrases are in praise of Mary, and those
above the choir refer to singing as praise. The door leadRepairs were made on the convent between 1666 and ing from sanctuary to sacristy is also carved with owers
1672. In 1687 another church was begun although the enclosed in boxes.[1]
construction was interrupted; only in 1714 was it comThe church has three retablos, all brightly polychromed.
pleted. The church was repaired a number of times but The main retablo has an image of the Virgins assumption
data on the renovation are sketchy. After 1860 the Recin the main niche. An image of balding and somewhat roollect added windows with colored glass panes, and set tund San Ignacio anks it, and so thus an image of San
these in a wooded frame decorated with a quail on a plate,
Luis Gonzaga. The whole retablo is decorated with sathe attribute of San Nicolas de Tolentino. [1]
lomonica columns, foliage, and angels with large bellies.
The secular priest de los Reyes also did some repairs
probably during the convocation of the second Vatican
Council which was commemorated in the Philippines
with a jubilee year. To commemorate the event, a roof
beam was emblazoned with inscriptions. [1] Maragondon is unique among Jesuit churches for its elevation. The
faade is narrow but tall, not squat as in other churches.
The faades left is a tall bell tower with no clear divisions between the stories. It is a single shaft tapering upwards, ending in nials at the corners, and surmounted by
a rounded roof. The faade is chastely ornamented with
the tapering buttresses supporting it.

The side retablos have lost their original estuary, and new
ones have replaced what had been lost. An octagonal pulpit at the right side of the nave is also polychromed in
red, blue, gold, and green. Monograms of the names of
Jesus and Mary decorate the pulpit panels. Salomonica
columns ank the borders of each panel. The bottom of
the pulpit is decorated with swirling foliage that end in an
inverted pineapple. A cross, dated 1712, is found near
the churchs main entrance.[1]

Part of the convent looks older than the rest. The older
part is made of rubble while the newer part is cut stone
brick. An elegant staircase of stone and tile are found
In contrast to the faade is the door, divided into boxes, in the older part. A newer sacristy was added. There
1

REFERENCES

Cultural Center of the Philippines (1994). CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art: Volume III. Manila:
Cultural Center of the Philippines.

Retablo mayor

are remains of an old defensive wall and a blockhouse


that surrounds the quadrangle formed by the church and
convent.[1]

Gallery
Convent
Main Door
Polychromed retablo
Church pulpit
Bell tower

References

3.1

Notes

[1] Cultural Center of the Philippines (1994). CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art: Volume III. Manila: Cultural Center
of the Philippines.

3.2

Bibliography

Jose, R. T., & Ayala Museum (1991). Simbahan: Church art in colonial Philippines, 1565-1898.
Metro Manila, Philippines: Ayala Museum.

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

4.1

Text

Maragondon Church Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maragondon%20Church?oldid=643901276 Contributors: Gadget850, Jllm06,


David Condrey, FrescoBot, BG19bot, Jhona43, RioHondo, Byralaal, OccultZone, Carlojoseph14, Joannerfabregas and Anonymous: 3

4.2

Images

File:Commons-logo.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg License: ? Contributors: ? Original


artist: ?
File:Flag_of_the_Philippines.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Flag_of_the_Philippines.svg License:
Public domain Contributors: The design was taken from [1] and the colors were also taken from a Government website Original artist:
User:Achim1999
File:Our_Lady_of_the_Assumption_Parish_Church,_Magondon,_Cavite_01.JPG Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/
commons/b/b5/Our_Lady_of_the_Assumption_Parish_Church%2C_Magondon%2C_Cavite_01.JPG License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Joannerfabregas
File:Our_Lady_of_the_Assumption_Parish_Church,_Magondon,_Cavite_08.JPG Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/
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File:Our_Lady_of_the_Assumption_Parish_Church,_Magondon,_Cavite_14.JPG Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/
commons/5/57/Our_Lady_of_the_Assumption_Parish_Church%2C_Magondon%2C_Cavite_14.JPG License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Joannerfabregas
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map_%28square%29.svg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Hellerick
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Contributors:
Created from scratch in Adobe Illustrator. Based on Image:Question book.png created by User:Equazcion Original artist:
Tkgd2007
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artist: ?

4.3

Content license

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0

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