Bacong, Negros Oriental

San Agustin Parish Church

Simbahan ng Bacong / Church of Bacong

NATIONAL CULTURAL TREASURE

About the Church: With its first mass celebrated on August 28, 1883, it is one of 26 colonial churches declared by the National Museum as National Cultural Treasures in November 2001. The National Commission for Culture and the Arts put the church and complex up for restoration.

San Agustin Church's altars, embellished with gold-leaf, are the oldest in the province. A certain Fr Leandro Arrue was responsible for interior adornments, the pavements, the paintings, and the completion of the main and lateral altars.

It is said that through his encouragement, parishioners acquired chandeliers, the marble fountain for the baptistery and holy water fountains at the entrances. Not content with that, Fr Arrue also laid down the foundation of what now stands as the tallest belfry in the province.

Meanwhile, the church's famous pipe organ, built by the House of Roque de Zaragosa in Spain, was installed in May 1894. It is said that there only two of its kind still surviving. The other one in Bohol is said to be in even worse state.

According to the Panublion Heritage Site, this sandstone church with sedate classical lines is one of the few remaining colonial churches in Negros. Its use of dark sandstone is unusual in the Visayas, where coral is the preferred building material.

Credits to www.kasal.com for the history of the Church