Mabolo Church – Philippines Church
Mabolo Church traces its origins to the town called Talamban, formed by workers from an Augustinian Hacienda at Banilad. The site is about three kilometers northwest of downtown Cebu. The Banilad Estate was given by Legazpi to the Augustinian convent of Santo Niño and used as a stable for horses. In 1600, Talamban became a town. A chapel was built there under the patronage of San José. It became a visita of San Nicolas later on, but was separated from San Nicolas in 1745 and annexed to Opon. Fr. Juan Espinosa was named prior in 1762.
To settle jurisdictional conflict between San Nicolas, Opon and Mabolo, Fr. Julian Bermejo asked the Banilad estate to set aside an area large enough for a church, convento, schools and casa real. In 1847, the town transferred site to the place we now called Mabolo. In 1850, Talamban (Mabolo) became an independent parish. That year a new church of wood on a masonry base was built. Fr. Manuel Ibeas built a convent of wood and stone in 1866 but together with the church was badly damaged by a typhoon in 1877 and an earthquake in 1882.
The present convento traces to the 1866 structure but the church has been rebuilt and the facade altered. The present church combines Neo-gothic and Classical elements.
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