Saint John the Baptist Parish Church, commonly known as Dingle Church, is a Roman Catholicparish church located at the municipality of Dingle, Iloilo in the Philippines. It is under the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Jaro. Finished in 1886, save for the still uncompleted bell tower,[1] the church stands as a fine example of Baroque architecture exuding the style of Neoclassical extravagance.[2]
Fray Diego Álvarez of the Augustinians founded Dingle, then known as Baong, as a visita of Pototan in 1593.[3] Pototan, a village then ruined, was briefly annexed to Baong after the former's population significantly decreased.[1] Accordingly, a church was built in Baong.[3] Around this time, Baong had a population of more than 1,000 and was a well-known place for recreation.[3] Baong became a pueblo on its own right on April 23, 1611[3] before being annexed as a visita to Dumangas and Laglag respectively in 1629 and 1641.
On April 28, 1823, Dingle was re-elevated into a pueblo after five years under Dumangas and 182 years under Laglag through the petition of a Dingleño teniente mayor of Laglag, Don Juan Marcelino Dayot.[4]
In 1829, during the tenure of Don Juan Marcelino Dayot as gobernadorcillo of Dingle and Fray Juan Raile as parish priest of Laglag,[5] under which parish Dingle still belonged to, construction of the current church made of granite stone quarried from nearby Bulabog Putian mountains commenced.[1] On August 16, 1850, by order of governor-generalUrbiztondo, Dingle became a parish independent from that of Laglag.[5] Its first patron was St. Monica.[6] It was later changed to the Assumption of Our Lady, and finally, to St. John the Baptist.[6]
To solidify Dingle's ecclesiastical prominence, Fray Fernando Llorente y Santos ordered the continuation of the construction of the current structure of the Parish Church of St. John the Baptist in 1865 which was completed in 1886.[7] The bell tower, however, remains unfinished to this day.[1] The construction of the church under Fray Llorente covered the terms of Dingle gobernadorcillos Domingo Osano, Luís Cantalicio Dayot, and Santiago and Tomás Sanico.[5]
In December 1900, a fire destroyed all the buildings in town save for the stone church.[8]
Architecture
The Dingle Church is a classic example of Baroque architecture, characterized by its broad facade, simplistic niche and its sturdy, triangular-shaped pediment. Though it lacks the opulent lavishness of most churches, it is infused with the Neoclassical elaborate style of volute shaping the upper facade. Unlike the baroque churches of Ilocos, the pediment of Dingle Church is attached to the church itself but is heavily fortified by pilasters and multi-faceted columns.
Baked bricks in the color of cream lined up its interiors. Supporting the ornately carved ceiling is a line of slender Corinthian columns standing across the room. The altar where the statue of St. John the Baptist stands is supported by a stonework of columns raised in a marble dais.
A short flight of stairs lead the laity to the entrance of the church. Its facade is rendered asymmetrical with a bell tower that stands in its gospel side. Its facade and bell tower feature arches, round apertures, and pilasters.
There is a small red half-dome over the entryway that serves as a portico, its roof decorated with volutes, lines, and scroll-work. Above the entryway are the words: “Año 1886” which translates to “Year 1886”, indicating the year that the church was completed. On either sides are niches of holy figures. In the upper story, the middle panel bears the niche of the patron. Its sidewalls terminate in curvilinear lines. On the other hand, the bell tower has an arch window with tracery in its base. Its second level is hexagonal with open and blind alternating on each side. It is capped with a balustrade and red pyramidal roof.
The interiors feature Corinthian columns along the length of the nave, and ornamental half-quatrefoil arches are found in between each pair of columns. The ceiling on the side aisles are lower than the one above the nave, and it is decorated by rosettes and moldings that divide its face into different panels. There is no choir loft, the space immediately by the entrance is a narthex that is separated by a stone arcade. The church walls are pierced by arch windows (with stained glass) and portals. Meanwhile, a spiral staircase leads to the belfry.
1 2 3 4 Galende, Pedro G. (1987). Angels in stone: Architecture of Augustinian churches in the Philippines (published January 1, 1987). p.404. ISBN978-9718575000.
1 2 3 4 de Medina, Juan (1630). Historia de la Orden de S. Agustín de Estas Islas Filipinas[History of the Augustinian Order in the Filipinas Islands] (in Spanish). Manila (published 1893).
↑ Erreción de Pueblos, Yloýlo: Erigiendo en Pueblo la Visita de Dingle[Establishment of Towns, Iloilo: Erecting as a Pueblo the Visita of Dingle] (in Spanish). Manila. May 10, 1823.
1 2 3 Municipality of Dingle (1993). 400 Years from Foundation and Christianization: Fresh Hopes for Dingle.
1 2 Galende, Pedro G. (1987). Angels in stone: Architecture of Augustinian churches in the Philippines (published January 1, 1987). p.404. ISBN978-9718575000.
↑ Municipality of Dingle (1993). 400 Years from Foundation and Christianization: Fresh Hopes for Dingle.
↑ United States, Bureau of Insular Affairs (1902). A Pronouncing Gazetteer and Geographical Dictionary of the Philippine Islands. U.S. Government Printing Office. p.548.
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