Barasoain Church

THE BARASOAIN CHURCH

The Barasoain Church or also known as Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish is a Roman Catholic church built in 1630 in Malolos, Bulacan. It was founded by the Augustinian Missionaries in 1859. The original church was burned in May 1884 during the Santacruzan. Construction of the current structure was started in 1885 while the belfry was constructed in 1889. This church which was recognized as the most important religious building in the Philippines earned the title ‘Cradle of Democracy in the East’. The church is also renowned for its architectural design and internal adornments

            This church is considered as one of the most important places in the Philippines because some of the important and major events in the Philippine history happened in this church.(1) the convening of the First Philippine Congress (September 15, 1898), the drafting of the Malolos Constitution (September 29, 1898 to January 21, 1899), and the inauguration of the First Philippine Republic (January 23, 1899).

On August 1, 1973, the church was proclaimed as a National Shrine by President Ferdinand Marcos through the Presidential Decree No. 260. Unusual for newly elected presidents in the Philippines, the church has been a venue in many inaugural affairs. General Emilio Aguinaldo and former president Joseph Estrada were the only two who have been inaugurated in the place.

The term "Barasoain" was derived from Barásoain in Navarre, Spain to which the missionaries found the place in Malolos in striking similarity. When the Spanish-Filipino revolution broke out, the Spanish authorities coined the term "barasngsuwail," which means "dungeon of the defiant" because the church was a meeting place for anti-Spanish and anti-colonial illustrados.