Visita Iglesia: St. Dominic de Guzman, Sto. Domingo
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Tags: albay churches, architecture, visita iglesia
The Parish Church of St. Dominic de Guzman is the most prominent landmark in the quaint and picturesque town of Sto. Domingo. Built in 1820, the church is built with massive solid stone walls unsupported by pillars. Two dome-shaped belfries give a graceful symmetry to the church. Since cement was not yet used during the construction of the Sto. Domingo church, massive stone walls were built using a mixture of lime, egg albumin, and “tangguli” (or molasses) that serve as binder and hardener.
Sto. Domingo Church | by Rouel
The church was built through forced labor. Workers shed sweat, tears, blood and even their lives for the construction of the church.The town of Sto. Domingo was originally named Libog from the corrupted Bicol word “libot” which means roundabout. The poblcation was off the main route between the trade center towns of Tabaco and Legazpi City, but had to be included in the route for trading and government purposes, thus a roundabout road had to be constructed.
Vintage Photo of Sto. Domingo (Libog) Church
Established as a separate municipality of Ibalon in 1749, Republic Act. 2520, enacted by Congresswoman Tecla S. Ziga, provided for the change of name Libog to Sto. Domingo in 1959. Formal proclamation of its new name was made on August 4, 1959 which coincide with the feast day of town’s patron saint. The builders of this town were expert planners as the poblacion was so designed that all downhill streets were parallel and the cross streets were also parallel. Provisions were made for two spacious public plazas, market site, a wide church site and a government–building compound all clustered along the main thoroughfare.
St. Dominic de Guzman Church Interiors | Photo by Shubert Ciencia
The town is the birthplace of “Sarung Banggi”, a classical bicol love song composed by an illustrious son of Sto. Domingo, Potenciano Gregorio in 1910. It is also the center of the resitance movement against the Japanese, headed by Col. Faustino M. Flor, a native of this town and founder of the guerilla movement. Sto. Domingo is also well-known for its jet black sand beaches and numerous resorts. In fact, it is recognized as the resort town of Albay.
Sto. Domingo Church | Photo by Patrick Pantangco
Map of Sto. Domingo Church
View St. Dominic de Guzman Church in a larger map
LGU of Sto. Domingo
Official Website of Sto. Domingo
NSCB Region V
6 Responses to Visita Iglesia: St. Dominic de Guzman, Sto. Domingo
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Climbing Up to Mayon’s Base Camp
Climbing up to the summit of the Philippines’s most active volcano is truly an experience of a lifetime. Climbing up to the level close to the summit or an area commonly referred to as the knife’s edge is for the intermediate-expert climber or for one who is very fit. It normally takes two days and one night to reach the summit and it is essential that one have a competent and knowledgeable local guide.
I have been to several old Churches in the philippines and a few in Albay. One thing that I have noticed is the blackened discolouration of the stonework itself but sadly too the actual growth of foliage that has taken root wherever it can find purchase to take advantage of any foothold even in the tiniest of crevices, only to expand and gradually become bigger as it either overcomes the mortar or the cement bonding the stoneswork if there is any gaps at all between blocks, then in all probability mother-nature’s handywork will have its effects shown wherby foliage will flourish to the detrement of the construction where its affect will make itself manifest shortly afterwards. There is nothing to be gained by waiting any longer to tackle this problem in your district anone and should be a nationwide push to implement an immediate responce from the local peoples to safely remove these out of reach areas by erecting scaffolding to allow access to volunteers who will most likely complete the work eventually, as I have little Faith when it comes down to depending on hand outs from some government body to e money to fix a worthy cause which should be a concern to everyone and I am sure you will agree with me when I say that the task needs to be done as soon as possible,
The lower more accessable areas are mostly free of any small trees or bushes although the uppermost reaches are hazardous to climb and pose a very real threatleading to injury or loss of life presents the main difficulty to workers if restoration work was to be undertaken to prevent any further defacement to these fine old buildings, whether they be Churches or grand statlt old public buildings they are certainly worth the effort to bring them back to their original pristine glory if possible to their original condition by removing and killing off by poisioning the foliage to deter further impengement of strangulation by weeds to the exteriors of these wonderful magestic national landmarks.
Yes this is a wonderful church very pretty inside and they are in the process of repairing it! My mother inlaw walks there with in minutes and goes to church daily. We have a very large family there of around 350 members. I myself have a beach front home outside of town further down from the resorts. But this is a wonderful town. cya.
Good day! I am Via Magtoto of Island Weddings Magazine. We are currently working on an article about some of the historical churches in Bicol. One of the churches to be featured is the Sto. Domingo Church. We would like to ask for your permission to use your photo/s for our magazine. The photo will be credited to you.
Thank you very much and we hope to hear from you!
My family is deeply connected to this church. My great great great grandfather Martin Martinez, a Spanish priest, his remains lie there within the church walls. This was also the base of operations for my grandfather Julian Martinez Flor, a Filipino officer in the U.S. Navy, and his brother Major Faustino Flor, who lead the resistance for the Philippine Army’s Bicol Brigades.
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