Bohol Churches

by Stacy Tan

“Let’s visit the church of Our Lady of Assumption!” I excitedly suggested.

“Okay, let’s add that to our list. After all, it is a must that we visit at least one church there,” replied Jorge in a mix of English and Filipino.

Indeed, a trip to Bohol cannot be complete without visiting at least one of its numerous stone churches. They are not hard to miss considering that nearly all 47 of the towns in Bohol have one. Founded by Jesuits as early as 1595 and then taken over by the Augustinian Recollects upon the expulsion of Jesuits in 1768, these churches are rich with much local culsture. For these reason, they serve as historical landmarks which are often found at the top of the tourist detinations list in Bohol. Amongst the popular ones is the Dauis Church.

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DAUIS CHURCH, a.k.a. Our Lady of Assumption Church

In the other island of Bohol, located not far away from the mainland, is the Dauis Church. Another Jesuit church, it was founded by Fr. Diego de Ayala and Joseph Gregorio. Construction of the church was conducted by Fr. Julio Saldana in 1863 and was only completed in the early 1920’s. Three years later, it was inaugurated by Cebu Bishop Jan Gorodo. Records show that the church of Dauis was built over an old cemetery location.

For some strange reason, the church was deserted when we arrived there at around 1PM. There were only a few people outside the building. We didn’t let this deter us though and we continued on in our exploration. It took us some time to find an entrance to the church as the main doors were closed but luckily we found an open doorway at the side.

The interior of the church was predominantly of the shades of royal blue on the wall and gold among the frescoes painted on the ceiling of the church. There were no glass windows with colourful mosaics on them but above the window frames there had numerous paintings of angels and religious symbols. Definitely, it was not like the modern churches you’d find in Greenhills area wherein the building is air-conditioned, made of marble, and very well-kept. This is not to say that the Dauis Church was not well-kept. Rather, it had a very old feel about it—an ancient, historical and beautiful aura. Walking silently and surveying my surroundings, I could feel as though I was one with nature and history as the layout of the church served as reminder of the olden times. It is in fact, the first church I have seen with an actual wooden pulpit. Two antique-looking confessionals were also found at the back area of the church, near the main entrance.

Personally, what largely attracted me to the church is its famous healing well. Sadly, my groupmates and I went around the church but we weren’t able to find it. I’m not certain if we just overlooked it, perhaps. Supposedly, the water in the well possessed healing powers through the miracle of the church’s patron saint—after whom it is also named after—the Virgin of Assumption (the church is also popularly known as the "Our Lady of Assumption Church") Legend has it that once, when the town was besieged by pirates, the townspeople locked themselves in the church to seek refuge. Eventually, when provisions and water ran out, a miraculous event occurred. A well suddenly materialized at the foot of the altar. What was further amazing was the quality of the water. It was very pure in spite of the well’s closeness to the seashore. Today, the well serves as a main source of water for the people living nearby the church. It is interesting to note that this very same water is also rumoured to have healing properties. Pilgrims visit the church, a pilgrim site now, to bring home a bottle of this miraculous water.


Trivia:
• It is one of the two major attractions in the municipality of Dauis. The other being the Hinagdanan cave.
• It has been constructed over four times already. The fifth one, the modern one, was constructed by Fr. Julio Saldana in 1863. On the principal arcade above the frieze, Saldana’s name can still be read—written on it—in spite of the many renovations the church has had.
• The church’s interior has some impressive frescoes on the ceiling painted by Ray Francia in 1916.
• Considered as one of the most beautiful churchest in Bohol, the Dauis church has one of the most sophisticated and complex structures of its kind in the province. It is, in fact, built according to a plan for basilica’s.
• The main altar isn’t fixed to the ground. It actually has wheels and can be moved around.

Getting There:
The church is a nice three-kilometer walk from Tagbilaran city. Alternatively, you may catch a tricycle or jeepney to bring you across.

Images from:

http://www.bohol-philippines.com/dauis-church.html

http://www.jennwashere.com/dauis-church/

My Experience

By Miko Gentiles

Every trip to Bohol for me is always a pleasant and exciting one. In my last trip there which was 2 summers ago, I did not see much of the island however it did not fail to win me over. I remembered that I was filled with awe due to the islands beautiful powdery white sand beaches and clear blue sea. Also by it being the Central Visayas, it meant that I could, for the moment, speak my native dialect of Bisaya which I could only use at home in manila. With all of this in mind, I was very much filled with excitement when our group choose Bohol to be our destination for this blog site.

In my last trip into the island, I only witnessed a mere fraction of what the island had to offer due to the limited time that we had. However, my group and I knew that the island had so much more to offer besides its already famous beaches. We started our journey at the Bohol Beach Club, one of the top resorts in the whole of Panglao Island, Bohol. We were lucky enough to get two superior beach side villas care of our contact from the department of tourism (thanks tita J). The resort, I would say, was top notch. In its boundaries included about a kilometer stretch of white sand beach facing the blue ocean. It was like Boracay minus the crowd. The resort also offered a wide array of packages which included van rentals and boat rides. In order to save money for the rest of the trip however, we decided to find an alternative means of touring the island. Luckily there was a nearby resort which offered the same packages at a lower price. In our trip that nearby resort became sort of our Best Friend as we bought more from it that resort than the Bohol Beach Club. Our first day there was basically spent as a planning session for our tour around the island.

We started our second day with an early breakfast and after which we proceeded to tour the island. Our itinerary basically consisted of five stops which were: the Bohol Bee Farm, the Tarsier Sanctuary, the floating restaurants of the Loboc River, the Our Lady of Assumption Church and finally the Hinagdanan Cave. Each stop offered a unique experience for all of us. In the Bee farm, on my opinion, the highlight was not the Bees but the unique ice cream that the farm produced. Where else can you find Malungay flavoured ice cream which was tasted surprisingly good? Our next stop--the tarsier sanctuary --proved to be worth the visit. We enjoyed viewing and taking photographs of the smallest primate in the world which was endemic to Bohol. Of course, we were very careful not to use the flash (haha). The third stop which was the Loboc River Cruise served as our lunch for the day. For just three hundred per head, we were able to enjoy not only an unlimited amount of food especially barbeque, but we were treated as well to a relaxing cruise along the Loboc river while being entertained by the Loboc Children’s choir towards the end of our cruise. For our next stop, we left the Loboc area and proceeded back to Dauis in Panglao Island. There we proceeded to the Our Lady of the Assumption Church, one of the oldest churches in Bohol. The interior of the church was basically what I have heard in history class. It had a high painted ceiling and walls adjourned by saints and other religious figures. Going into the church instantly transports you back to Spanish times. After the church we proceeded to our last and my personal favourite spot which was the Hinagdanan cave. Going to this site, I could not say that I was not excited. This was because I have done caving several times already. However, I have never actually gone cave swimming. The entrance of the cave was basically a little hole in the ground. The pool of water was just around 2 minutes away from the entrance. The experience was both fun and scary. It was fun because it was a new experience one which I have never done before. However it was also scary because in a way the cave had a creepy effect to it due to its darkness and eerie rock formations. But overall, the experience was worthwhile and I would do it again if I was given the chance. The Hinagdanan cave basically summed our land tour of Bohol. After it we decided to retreat to the resort where we enjoyed the pool and the beach.

If the first day was the land tour, the second was basically the water tour. Our itinerary consisted of dolphin watching and snorkelling in Balicasag Island. For this trip we woke up extra early--4:30AM anyone?--as the dolphins only come out to play early in the morning. The conditions of the ocean were a bit choppy. The moderately strong wind caused the sea to create big waves which may cause people to get sea sick. This did not stop us from spotting dolphins, however. It was a nice experience to catch sight of the dolphins in their natural habitat and also interesting to see how playful they were. We could see schools of them swimming, jumping and spinning beside our boat. Seeing them was a very enjoyable experience.

After saying Goodbye to the dolphins we basically went snorkelling for a while around Balicasag Island wherein we saw a rich collection of coral reefs and marine life. After which we hurried to get back to the resort in order to be back before 10am so that we could still eat our free breakfast. We barely arrived in time to be able to eat the last serving of the breakfast buffet. Fortunately, the staff took pity on us and allowed us to have one round at the buffet table. Lesson learned here, eat your breakfast before you go Dolphin Watching. During the afternoon it was time to say goodbye to the island of Bohol and go back to the real world back in manila. Every trip to Bohol for me always carries surprises and this was no exception.