Naga's Basilica Minore de Penafrancia

This will be a three-post series on the Penafrancia Churches of Naga City. As you may know, every September, thousands of devotees make a pilgrimage to this city for the Penafrancia Festival, in celebration of the Virgin of Penafrancia. I happened to visit Naga City this summer and have decided to visit these churches sans the festival crowd and let me share photos of these churches starting with the Basilica Minore de Penafrancia.

The Peñafrancia Basilica Minore is located in Balatas Road, Naga City. This is where the image of Our Lady of Penafrancia is presently enshrined. That image of the Virgin Mary that was sculpted in 1710 thru the commissioning of Miguel de Cobarrubias who moved to the Philippines from Spain with his family and believed that the virgin Mary had helped him numerous times in his life.

The idea of building this Church came from Archbishop Pedro P. Santos in 1960 when he noticed that the devotees of the Virgin keep increasing in number. Construction began on April 18, 1976, but was delayed for a number of years due to finance problems and was not completed until September, 1981.

On May 22, 1982 it was dedicated as The Church of Nuestra Señora de Peña de Francia and it wasn't until May 22, 1985 that the Church was given the title of "Basilica Minore" from Rome after a request from the third Archbishop of Caceres, Leonardo Z. Legaspi.

There was an activity inside the church when I visited it, so out of respect, I refrain from shooting photos of the main interiors, but nevertheless, here are some snaps I have taken of the church:

Penafrancia Basilica Minore

Shed ala Space Ship

Our Lady of Penafrancia Shrine

Praying to the Nazarene

Colorful Ceiling of the Shed

The Good-Sized Crowd

Gloomy Weathered Basilica

The Church of Nuestra Senora de Penafrancia on my next post.