walking distance & et cetera -: Boso-Boso church

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Located at Antipolo’s old township, Sitio Boso-Boso, Barangay San Jose, the Boso-Boso church is a remnant of the 16th century. Franciscan missionaries arrived in Antipolo area in pre-Spanish colonization era, 1578, and established the oldest church in Antipolo City. In 1591 they were replaced by the Jesuits who organized the village into a parish. It was destroyed during the Second World War. It

The first church was built as a mission church by the Franciscan missionaries sometime in the late 16th to early 17th century. The Jesuits eventually took over the mission there in the 17th century who began constructing a new church made of stone and brick, It was turned over to the seculars in 1768 when the Jesuits were expelled from the Philippines.

In 1880, an earthquake caused significant damage to the church. Owing to the dwindling population in the area, the damaged portions of the church were not rebuilt.

In 1930, the Americans planned to build a dam in Boso Boso, Thus, the remaining inhabitants were ordered to resettle elsewhere. The dam project was eventually abandoned due to a discovered earthquake fault line, yet the people did not return until the time of the Japanese occupation. Even then, whatever that was left of the church was subsequently burned down by the Japanese, leaving only the lower portion of the original church facade intact.

As the area was eventually resettled, administration of the parish was taken over by the Camillian order in 1986 who helped organize the restoration of the church. Restoration was completed in 1995,preserving the original remaining façade of the old church with the rebuilt portions built as close as possible to the simple, sparse architecture of the old structure.