After two churches were burnt down and raided by Muslim pirates in 1741 and 1754, a site in Tacas was chosen on top of a hill which has a perfect view of the Miag-ao River. This world-famous Miag-ao church is one of the four baroque churches in the Philippines recorded in 1993 on the World Heritage List sponsored by UNESCO. The three other churches are: (1) Immaculate Concepcion (Intramuros, Manila), (2) Nuestra Senora (Ilocos Sur) and (3) San Agustin (Ilocos Norte).

An egg and a limestone – two things that the natives were obliged to bring in building this church or face whipping. The travel is about 30-35 kilometers from the mountains of Sitio Tubo in San Joaquin and from the Mountains of Igbaras enduring a stone of weight on one shoulder.

The whole church featured a Neo-classist type of design fused with several local tendencies and the builders achieved in making a national architecture. The balance is reinforced by the massive bell towers, suggestive of a medieval castle. Two belfries taper up gradually and end up in uneven height. Fr. Francisco Perez, the old man of Miag-ao added one story to the left tower in 1830 in order that the two could be equal in height, still the left tower is short with one level.

The façade is breathtaking with an intricate sculpture of coconut, banana and papaya trees and stylized guava fruit and below is a niche encasing the patron saint of the town, St. Thomas of Villanova.

The construction of this house of worship started in 1798 under the supervision of another Augustinian Priest, Fr. Francisco Gonzales and it took ten years to finish the whole structure. The church is not built solely for the reason of hearing mass; this fortress also provided the natives a strong defense against the invading Moors. The left belfry has a clear view of the shores of this town. The bell would ring as a warning of the approaching enemy and the townsfolk’s would rush inside the church to protect themselves. It sinks to as deep as six meters below the ground with walls as much as 2 ½ meters thick including the outside columns.

The side walls of the exteriors is said to liken the keys of the piano, except that it doesn’t produce any sound and the color became green because of the moss-growth throughout the years.

It is an architectural wonder how an egg yolk managed to paste the group of lime stones on top of the other (no steel bars) and survived the 1898 revolution, 1910 fire and the 1948 earthquake that toppled the belfry of Jaro Cathedral and destroyed the church of Oton, although a small portion of its left belfry was also damaged.

An excavation was done in 1982 that led to the discovery of the original altar which is used until today. It is partially made of gold and silver. A saint made of lime was also discovered during the excavation and is now encased in a glass panel situated near the Baptistery. Their Baptistery, where the Birhen ng Baranagy statue stood, is found at the right side of the church facing the altar, still used until today to welcome new members of the Catholic Church.

The patron saint is Santo Tomas de Villanova and their annual fiesta falls on the 22nd of September.