After lunch at a Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet near the Antipolo Cathedral, Jandy and I returned to our Toyota Revo for the last leg of our Antipolo City tour – the Our Lady of Annunciation Church, the first Catholic church built in Antipolo.  The church isn’t easy to find as it is located almost outside Antipolo, on the fringe just before getting to Tanay.  We found our way there via the Marcos Highway (and asking for directions).

Our Lady of Annunciation Church

The stone and brick church was constructed by the Jesuits in 1700 under the patronage of Our Lady of Annunciation (Nuestra Señora de la Anunciata). In 1768, when the Jesuits were expelled, its management was transferred to Recollect priests. The church was destroyed during  the July 18, 1880 earthquake. Since then, the population started dwindling and, as it did not seem important to rebuild the church, it was left in ruins.

The church’s simple facade

The church’s interior

In 1930, it was totally abandoned when the townspeople were ordered moved to another location to give way for the construction of a proposed dam that would flood the mountain valley of Boso-Boso.  When the project didn’t prosper (due to the discovery of an earthquake fault line), the people slowly came back.

The church’s square bell tower

In 1943, during World War II, what remained of the church was destroyed by fire by the Japanese. In 1995, it was again restored, with the help of the townspeople, to its original design.

Buttresses on the side walls

The present reconstructed church has a simple, single level facade with a centrally located main entrance flanked by two small, semicircular arched windows.  Above it is a triangular pediment with a centrally located oculus.  On the church’s left is a square bell tower.  The side walls are supported by buttresses.  Its interior reveal traces of its brick construction.

National Historical Institute plaque

Our Lady of Annunciation Church: Sitio Old Boso-Boso, Brgy. San Jose, Antipolo City, Rizal.

How To Get There: From the Masinag/Sumulong intersection, ride a jeepney along Marcos Highway. Upon seeing the Boso-Boso Highlands Resort on the left side, it is a further 2 kms.  to dirt road on the left marked with a big metal archway (“Old Boso-Boso, Brgy. San Jose, Antipolo City”).  Here, take a 2-km. tricycle ride to the church located on your left.

From the Hinulugang Taktak, Jandy and I next proceeded to the nearby Antipolo Cathedral, a favorite pilgrimage site formally known as the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception National Shrine of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage of Antipolo.  We were lucky to be able to park at the cathedral grounds and when we entered, a wedding was ongoing.  

Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception National Shrine of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage of Antipolo

The church was first built from 1630 to 1633 by Jesuit Fr. Juan de Salazar but was burned during the Chinese uprising of November 1639-March 1640.  It was rebuilt by Fr. Salazar in 1637 but was destroyed during the earthquakes of 1645, 1824 and 1863.  Notable Filipino historians Pedro Chirino and Pedro Murillo Velarde ministered in this shrine.

The cathedral interior

The present church was reconstructed by Msgr. Francisco Avendano and was declared a National Shrine by the bishops of the Philippines in 1954.  This modern church, built on the site where the statue of the Virgin was discovered leaning against the trunk of a  tipolo  (breadfruit)  tree (artocarpus incisa), has a circular layout topped by a huge dome and has three main entrances.  Gothic influence in the façade is seen from the triangular windows and mouldings.   It houses the image of Nuestra Senora de la Paz y Buen Viaje (Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage).

Image of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage

The brown wooded statue was brought to Manila from Mexico by newly appointed Gov.-Gen. Don Juan Niño de Tabora in 1626, via the galleon El Almirante, enshrined in St. Ignatius Church in Intramuros and later entrusted to the Jesuits at Antipolo when Gov. Tabora died in 1632. Declared patron saint of the Manila galleons, it made six successful round trips across the Pacific to Acapulco without mishap from 1648 to 1649 (on the San Luis), 1650 (on the Encarnacion), 1651 to 1653 (on the San Diego), 1659 to 1662 (on the San Javier), 1663 (on the Nuestra Señora del Pilar) and from 1746 to 1748 (on the San Jose). On November 26, 1926, the image was canonically crowned, before 100,000 people in the Luneta,  by Manila Archbishop Michael J. O’Doherty. 

Historical Research and Markers Committee plaque

Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception National Shrine of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage of Antipolo: Pascual Oliveros St., Antipolo City, Rizal.