Parish of St. John of Sahagun (Tigbauan, Iloilo)
July 2, 2009 by
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Churches, Southern Iloilo
Twenty two kilometers away from Iloilo City lay the church of Tigbuan. The only church in the Philippines with Churriguesque-plateresque style until it was altered with an additional two unrelated towers. It was built in 1578 when Fr. Pedro Chirino was the parish priest and reconstructed during Fr. Fernando Comporendondo’s time. In the 1750’s this church is said to be the favorite destination of Spanish pilgrimage. It is made of sandstone and is built strongly to withstand the earthquake of the second quarter of 18th century. The old convent was destroyed in 1984.
The center masterpiece in the frontage was theoretically intended to be forcefully captivating in order to compensate for the lack of zoning. The columns are evocative of the Mexican Estipites tapering toward the capitals, edging the main arch entrance. The pilasters and spandrels are adorned with floral motifs. An angel with bent wings marks the keystone of the main arch.
On the first level is an Augustinian emblem of a heart-arrow and the Episcopal coat of arms occupies the middle of the cornice. A rectangular niche encasing San Nicholas de Tolentino marks the second story and topping it is another niche with the statue of Sto. Niño. It was noted that during the January 1883 Sto. Niño celebrations, the crowd overflowed from the church and loaded the plaza with more than 10,000 people from Negros and Panay.
Unlike its neighboring churches, only a handful of statue of saints can be found inside this church, only a wide array of carefully laden tile mosaics depicting bible stories (mostly parables) and the station of the cross that embellished the wall of this parish. The church’s altar is carefully laden mural in stones that is said to be one of the most beautiful altar murals in the region. Still baroque in style, this church had undergone renovations of its façade as the two belfries seemed to be out of place among the old stones seen from afar.
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