Jandy and I were now on our way home from our overnight stay in Lipa City. At a KFC outlet in Tanauan City, we made a short stopover for an early fried chicken lunch. After lunch, we walked over to the city’s beautiful Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist for some sightseeing. First built with wood in 1690, it was replaced with stone from 1732-67 and later rebuilt in 1812 by Fr. Ramon Cosio.
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| Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist |
The present structure was built from 1881-98 by Fr. Jose Diaz. The church was damaged in 1944 and rebuilt in 1948 by Monsignor Marino and Arch. Jose L. Zaragoza in the Romanesque style. The convent, built in 1872 and also destroyed in 1944, was rebuilt together with the cathedral.
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| The unremarkable modern interior |
The cathedral’s simple, High Renaissance and Romanesque facade, resembling the original one, has an ornate Romanesque-style recessed main entrance (resembling layers of lace) supported by 6 sets of elaborately decorated semicircular arched windows, a triangular pediment with a semicircular statued niche and a balustrade supporting statues of saints projecting over stone bases from the frieze. The rounded arches tapering down to the strong pillars harmonize with the uncluttered lines of the central ceiling. The church is also noted for its wide open central nave and circular niches. The churchyard has life-size tableaus of the 14 Stations of the Cross. Its bell tower, mounted on the horizontal extension of the facade, is topped by a Baroque-style dome.
Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist: A. Mabini Ave., Brgy. 1, Poblacion, Tanauan City, Batangas.