Region
7: Central Visayas ••• Cebu City ••
Uptown
Mabolo
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. |