Located 117 kilometers southeast of Cebu City is the town of Oslob. First mentioned in 1690, it was only a visita of Boljoon. Founded by the Augustinians, it was turned over to the Jesuits in the year 1737 but was returned to them in 1742. The original fortified Spanish settlement was located in what was then called Bolocboloc but now known as Daanlungsod, (in Cebuano, means, old town). It’s high walls and watchtowers are still standing today minus the original chapel.

Many parishioners wept upon seeing the ruins of their century-old church, which was gutted by fire in Oslob town, about 117 km south of Cebu City.

They were, however, thankful that the 19th century image of the Our Lady of Guadalupe that was placed inside a glass case at the center of the altar was spared in the fire that broke out at 1:45 a.m. yesterday.

Firefighters also found 73 other icons below the bell tower and some portions of the Our Lady of Immaculate Conception parish church in barangay Poblacion.

This is a series on the different churches in various areas in the country that can be followed as a guide for the much observed Filipino Catholic Lenten tradition of the Visita Iglesia. Click the image at the right to access the rest of the posts.

This is the second part of my Bulacan Visita Iglesia series. The first can be found at this post.

The province of Bulacan is rich not only in history but it is one of the earliest, about 1572, to be Christianized. Testament to this are the presence of several colonial era churches that can be found in several towns and cities. Two religious orders divided the province: the Augustinians took care of the central and northern part while the Franciscans the south.

The seven major churches of the different religious Orders in Intramuros before WWII.

This is the second part of a feature on Augustinian built churches in Cebu covering six churches all located at the southeastern side of the island province.