Piddig Church

The Santa Ana Parish Church, commonly known as the Piddig Church, is a Roman Catholic parish church in Piddig, Ilocos Norte, Philippines. Originally a visita of Dingras, it was raised into an independent parish in 1770.[1] In September 2014, the 200-year-old church of Saint Anne Parish in Piddig, Ilocos Norte was closed for public worship after it was deemed unsafe.[2]

Piddig Church
Saint Anne Parish Church
View of the Saint Anne Parish Church from the church patio
Piddig Church
Location in the Philippines
18.166084°N 120.716679°E / 18.166084; 120.716679
LocationPiddig, Ilocos Norte
CountryPhilippines
DenominationRoman Catholic
History
Founded1810 (as a Parish)
DedicationSaint Anne
Architecture
Functional statusActive
Architectural typeChurch building
StyleBaroque
Completed2019 (from renovation during 2014 closure)
Closed2014
Specifications
MaterialsBricks and wood
Administration
Parish1810
ArchdioceseNueva Segovia
DioceseLaoag
Clergy
ArchbishopMarlo Mendoza Peralta
Bishop(s)Renato Mayugba

History

Piddig was originally a visita or mission station of Dingras in 1598. It became an independent parish under the patronage of Saint Anne, Mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1770.[1] Father Isidro Campaner became its first parish priest.[3] The church of Piddig was built also on that same year. During the Philippine–American War, the church was occupied by five-man team of Filipino guerrillas who repulsed early American attacks.[4] It was also razed during the Japanese Occupation. On March 19, 1932, the tower was crippled by an earthquake. The damage was repaired by Monsignor Arsenio Pacis in the same year.[3]

The 21st Infantry of the American forces later occupied the church complex during World War II. Piddig became the military capital of Ilocos Norte.[1] All church records, the convent, sacristy, furniture went up to flames when the Japanese Imperial Forces raided and burned the town. In 1965, restoration work was done in the facade and the interior of the church.[3] The convent now houses the parochial school, Saint Anne Academy, during the term of Father Manuel Aspiras.[5][6]

Closure

The church was closed for public worship after it was deemed “unsafe” after liturgical rite presided over by Laoag Bishop Renato P. Mayugba on September 14, 2014.[2] According to Father Ericson Josue, the Commission Head of the Church Heritage of the diocese, the foundation of the church has been discovered to be weak to carry the massive walls of the edifice.[2] The local government of Piddig is planning to sought the church to be declared a heritage structure after the National Commission for Culture and the Arts and National Historical Commission of the Philippines.[7] The church was reopened in 2019 after 5 years of renovation.

Features

The church of Piddig is located on top of a hill with a big central stairway, and stone and brick fence.[4] The facade is inspired by the Jesuit Church of Il Gesu in Rome built in 1568.[1] It has huge buttresses that serves as columns and volutes on the pediment. It still has the original wooden pulpit and a central retablo with the image of the patron saint, Saint Anne holding Mary on her lap.[5] Its bell tower is now largely in ruins.[8]

The cemetery at the back of the church, now in ruins, is attributed to Father Felipe Fernandez.[4]

Notes
  1. Dela Torre 2006, p. 186
  2. Rainier Marquez (September 23, 2014). "200-year old church closed". CBCP News. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  3. Galende 1987
  4. Dela Torre 2006, p. 187
  5. Lazaro, Freddie (8 November 2014). "Piddig wants 204-yr-old church declared national heritage structure". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved 4 April 2015.
  6. Dela Torre 2006, p. 188
  7. "Heritage tag for 204-yr-old church sought". Philippine Daily Inquirer. 2 October 2014. Retrieved 4 April 2015.
  8. Legarda 1960, p. 133

Bibliography
  • Dela Torre, Visitacion (2006). The Ilocos Heritage. Makati City: Tower Book House. ISBN 978-971-91030-9-7.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Galende O.S.A, Pedro (1987). Angels in Stone (1st ed.). G.A. Formoso Publishing. pp. 345–347.
  • Legarda, Benita (1960). "Colonial Churches of Ilocos". Philippine Studies. Ateneo de Manila University. 8 (1): 121–158.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
gollark: So you can run this (`python3 logo96.png`) and it prints hello world, and as you can see it's a valid image.
gollark: <@!336962240848855040> So I don't know if any image format will let you stick a shebang at the start, *but* python apparently happily runs `__main__.py` from ZIP files. And ZIP files are backwards and work fine at the end of an image.
gollark: Anyway, I don't think any widely-used image formats will let you stick in a shebang or whatever at the front, unfortunately, they have headers.
gollark: Yep.
gollark: Not hugely related but interesting.

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