| 1. Saints Peter and Paul Parish Church |
Bantayan island is the first parish to be established in Cebu. It was founded by the Augustinians on June 11, 1580 as the “Convento la Asuncion de Nuestra Señora” and served as mission station for outreach to nearby islands. For centuries it was known as the Parish of St. Peter the Apostle. St Paul was added as a patron in the 20th century. The present church was built by Fr. Doroteo Andrada del Rosario from 1839 to 1863. Fr. del Rosario was a priest from Iloilo and brought with him many of forebears of Bantayan’s prominent families. The church has very thick walls both to provide stability as the ground it is built on isn’t as solid and to serve as fortress for refuge of islanders who were frequent targets of abduction by pirate raiders from the south. The church also distinguished by its retablo and the number of reliefs on its walls both inside and outside the church. The ceiling of the church has been painted with biblical images as part of the Dibuho Kisame project by the parish. |
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Suba, Bantayan, Cebu |
