The next major town after Alburquerque is the old town of Baclayon. This town is a major tourist attraction primarily because of its centuries-old church dedicated to Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. The church is dubbed as one of the oldest stone churches in the Philippines, supposedly having been built in the late 1500s. However, some conflicting evidence points to a much later date of 1700s. It is still unclear as to what the status of this church is but it is not any less charming if it were not as old.
This church in Baclayon town used to be the seat of the missions here in Bohol, however since it was built beside the sea, constant attacks by Muslims from the south forced them to move inland to the town of Loboc. The church itself is a massive building built of coral stone just like the Saint Peter the Apostle Church in Loboc. The bell tower is built onto the church building and the entire structure takes on a fortress like appearance. Most likely because of the fear of Muslim attacks.
Right next to the church is a building that used to serve as a convent. However, this has now been converted into a school. The Baclayon Church also houses an impressive collection of liturgical artifacts but frustratingly, I was unable to visit this museum. It would probably benefit vistors more if there were signs pointing to points of interest in the area. The church building itself was also closed, this seems to be an annoying habit of theirs but it is their church after all.
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