San Miguel Arcangel Church (Masantol)

The parish of Masantol was the last parish founded by the Augustinian Friars in Pampanga. With the move for secession of barrios Bebe, Caingin, Nuigin and Bulacus from the town of Macabebe to form Masantol in 1877 and its official inauguration in 1878, the parishioners of Masantol soon felt the need to separate from Macabebe's parish of Saint Nicholas. The parishioners’ demand for a separate parish began in 1884, shortly after the lobbying of its prominent citizens for the establishment of a new, independent town. Later, on January 13, 1894, the parish of San Miguel de Masantol was erected. The parish priests of Macabebe started the parochial structures for Masantol. The construction that started during the last years of the 19th-century was completed in 1901, under the term of Archbishop Bernardino Nozaleda, with Father Jose Mariano as first parish priest. A parish house was erected in 1927 during the time of Father Teodoro Tantengco. During the stay of Monsignor Bartolome Zabala in 1932, the entire church complex, including the patio, was renovated. In the 1980s, the church was repaired using steel and cement.[1][2][3]

The façade of the church is generally described as that of Renaissance-style, sporting different architectural features not commonly found incorporated in one structure. The central focus when viewing the façade is the central bell tower with its base supported by semicircular arches, Doric columns supporting the first and third levels, scroll-like ornamentations, and balustraded second level. The façade expands horizontally, with bare walls punctured by rose windows and semicircular arch windows, and ends with huge rectangular buttresses topped with religious images cased inside urnas or canopied niches. The year 1923 is inscribed in the façade, referring to the repairs made during the time of Monsignor Zabala.[1][2]