Parish Church of Santiago Apostol of Sogod

Official Name: Parish Church of Santiago Apostol of Sogod[1]

Local Name: Sogod Church

Classification Status: Classified Historic Structures (covering all Colonial Churches and other Houses of Worship, per NHCP Res. No. 3, s. 1991)[1]

Town or City: Sogod

Year Declared: 1832[1]

Description:
St. James the Apostle Church is an Roman Catholic church that is located in Sogod, a town in the northern part of the province of Cebu. It is also called Santiago Apostol Church and Sogod Church.[2]

History
The church of Sogod became a parish on July 31, 1832. The stone church was damaged at the height of World War II and a typhoon in 1951, and an initiative for its reconstruction was completed on January 16, 1963.[2]

Architecture
The original coral stonewall is covered in cement, giving the church a generally finished and contemporary appearance. Its facade is dominated by angles and straight lines from its pilasters, their capitals, cornices, pediment, gable, entablature, and ornamental horizontal bands. They highlight the curvilinear features found at the top of the entrance that bears a stained glass window depicting the patron and on the pediment, which is an arched recessed niche.

The octagonal bell tower shares similar characteristics. Erected in the epistle flank, it has arched windows on its two uppermost levels. It is capped with a dome.

A couple of steps lead up to the portico in front of the main entrance. On its roof are a series of rectilinear decors made of two rows of blocks of squares in varying sizes separated by moldings. The entrance is rectangular flanked by twin pilasters on both sides, the innermost two with horizontal indentations running along its surface. The upper register has two additional pilasters—slender, fluted, and flanking the aforementioned stained glass window of the patron. Flanking them are pilasters of different designs, one plain pair and the others with dented surface.[2]

Source:
1. https://ncca.gov.ph/philippine-registry-cultural-property-precup/
2. https://www.theoldchurches.com/philippines/cebu/sogod/st-james-the-apostle-church-in-sogod-cebu/