LAGUNA | St. John the Baptist Church at Liliw
Monday, November 29, 2010
Aside from the flourishing shoe and sandal industry that made Laguna’s municipality of Liliw famous, hidden on another one of its many alleys is a massive brick church that would make the populcace of any town proud to have in their district, the Lilio or Liliw Church. 
The Baroque-styled St. John the Baptist Cathedral was built during the Spanish period, 1605 to be exact. And like most of its kind, earthquakes have rattled and shook its foundation throughout the centuries. One particular quake during 1880 finally took its toll on its posts and lintels and brought it to ruin. It was reconstructed eighteen years later, but was met with yet another disaster, fire scorching a part of it.
Liliw Church entered various renovations, the latest one done last year to restore the its interior to its former old-world glory.
Entering the church grounds, visitors are welcomed by elevated white sculptures of saints that dot the Liliw Church's sprawling grounds. But I actually wasn’t really able to notice all of those as my eyes were firmly glued to the fiery orange facade of the brick cathedral. It simply is massive. I estimated the structure to tower at least sixty feet in height from ground base 
Inside, the Liliw Church was cool and solemn. Soft afternoon light filtered through its colored glass panes designed with various religious artworks. Faithful kneeling in solemn prayers on wooden benches. Typical church scenes in the Philippines.
Its retablo, recessed a few feet behind the altar features thirteen saints, each encased in their own niche and decorated by gold adornments. Two similar but smaller retablos can be found on the altar’s sides.
Interestingly, the church's pulpit where sermons were usually delivered in olden times looked restored. I'm just not sure if it is still being used today during mass as the custom of delivering sermons has long since been changed.
I would have loved to find out more about Liliw church from its own people but we have another stop left before leaving Laguna. Nagcarlan’s Underground Cemetery closes quite early and the day was getting older by the minute. I only got to spend a few minutes inside Liliw’s St. John the Baptist church, but it’s alright, I know this is not the last time I’d be visiting this house of worship.
St. John the Baptist Parish
Address: Barangay Poblacion, Liliw, Laguna
Contact Number: (049) 563-3511
8 comments
pwede po bang sumama sa mga lakad nyo.. ang saya eh, parang every weekend may pinupuntahan kayo... simply the best ang site na ito
ReplyDeleteRicky
ReplyDeleteSalamat bro!
Di naman every week, OA naman yun =P
uuuy taga dyan ako, and nabasa ko rin yung review mo sa Arabela..yung bahaty just south of it, doon yung ancestral house namin.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous
ReplyDeleteHi! Would be nice if you were not so anonymous =)
Thanks for taking the time to comment =)
Hello Christian, hi i'm the anonymous commenter. this is me:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.digitalphotographer.com.ph/forum/member.php?u=68349
and yes, our house is just the one beside the Arabela store, that old, "yellow/greenish" wooden house that is visible in your photo :-)
just want to boast about my home town Liliw, it's a mixture of new and old. it's far enough from manila where you can still feel the "probinsya" aura and it's lifestyle, and yet, it's just a couple of hours away and still not be left behind with the comings and goings in the capital.
So come back soon, as we have the best of both worlds. and thanks for featuring and promoting my town.
Jayvee
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting back bro.
Bahay nyo pala yun, I remember taking a photo of its windows on my first visit to Arabela, nasa flickr ko ata yun hehe.
Would you know any other interesting place we can check out in Liliw?
Hello Christian,
ReplyDeleteAside from the famous Tsinelas Street and the St. John the Baptist Church , there are plenty of old antique houses in and around town. some preserved, some decaying. probably you've already seen them and/or taken pictures of, like our house.
there is also the cold spring river that flows north of the town down to its underbelly. Liliw Resort, Batis ng Liliw are 2 of the the more well known resorts that have facilities for accomodation along the cold springs. Along the river are some falls, both man-made and natural. some tall some just a foot high. you could ask the locals to tour you and your friends there. Btw, the water is from Mt. Banahaw. Trails to the mid section of Banahaw is also accessible through Liliw.
I havent been to my town since i've relocated here in NJ, so i hope you can feature it again in your travel blog, so that i may see again what i am missing.
Kudos to you and to your blog, i like how you feature places in the PHL and i think you take good photographs. thanks
Jayvee
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tips man! Waterfalls and trekking, wow, I never thought there'd be something like that in Liliw.
I also saw another interesting restaurant there, Duo's Chef Mau Restaurant.
More reasons to go back to Liliw (I haven't even written about their tsinelas street there by the way haha)