Foundation

• 1599 - the church of Boljoon was founded during this year under the administration of the Church of Carcar

• October 31, 1690 - Boljoon was made an independent parish

• April 5, 1692 - Fr. Nicolas de Cuadra was named prior

• September 27, 1737 - the convent was abandoned due to lack of priests and was consequently handed by the Augustinians to the Jesuits

• 1747 - Boljoon was returned to the Augustinians in exchange for Liloan, Cotcot and Maraling.

Due to the frequency of Muslim raids during the olden times, the population of Boljoon never increased. To protect them from the pirates, Fr. Julian Bermejo directed the construction of a chain of watchtowers which ran along the shoreline from Punta Taņong (Santander) to Manhage. It was later extended up to Carcar, for a total length of 96 kms. He also built what the people refer to as dakung balay - a large quadrangular house made of masonry with walls at least a meter thick. Impressed, the Governor-general sent the necessary artillery equipment for this fortress. Fr. Bermejo is also credited for installing a telegraphic system - useful as a form of constant communication among towns in cases of impending raids.

Construction of the Church

The first buildings were probably ruined during the Muslim raid of 1782 that destroyed almost all of the town.

• Fr. Ambrosio Otero - started the reconstruction of the new church in 1783

• Fr. Julian Bermejo - finished the church and had a stone fence built to enclose the convent and the church as an added protective measure.

• 1880 - an old organ was installed and to this day, the organ is still at the choir loft, although it is in danger of getting worn out.

The interior is beautifully decorated. It has a main nave and transept and has twenty-eight pillars, two meters thick and made of mortar and lime, which support the walls as thick as the pillars. There used to be a communion rail with ornate silverwork but it has been stolen.

The style of the church is pseudo-baroque-rococo. The designer has seemingly followed the same pattern in the churches of Argao and Dalaguete with the exception of some Rococo decorations on the panels and along shallow pillars. It has the appearance of an impressionist painting “a la Greco”, with its elongated shape.

Of all Cebu’s churches, it is the church in Boljoon which best gives one a sense of the Philippine colonial past. The church of Boljoon is the oldest remaining original stone church in Cebu and is relatively well-preserved. It has been recently (year 1998) declared for conservation and restoration. Just this year (1999), technical studies have been undertaken, with the help of the German government, to pursue conservation and restoration efforts.