Panay Church

The Santa Monica Parish Church, also called Panay Church, 'Iglesia Parroquial de Santa Mónica', is a historic church in Panay, near Roxas City in the province of Capiz, on Panay island in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines. It was built in 1884 on the site of an earlier church, built in 1774 by Miguel Murguia, which was gravely damaged by the typhoon of 17 January 1875. The church is built of coral blocks and is approximately 70 metres long, 25 m in width and 18 m in height; the walls are about 3 metres thick.The church has an unusually large bell, the largest in the country. This was cast by Juan Reina in about 1884, using sacks of coin given by the people of the town; it weighs more than 10 tonnes.In 1997 the church was declared a National Historical Landmark by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines.Image Gallery File:Part of facade of Church of Panay.JPG|Façade File:Santo Tomas de Villanueva.JPG|Statue of Santo Tomas de Villanueva File:Largest bell in the Philippines and Asia.JPG|The large bell File:Smaller Bell at Church of Panay.JPG|One of the smaller bells File:West side of the Church of Panay.jpg|West side of the church File:Coral stone masonry of the Church of Panay.jpg|Coral stone masonry File:Our Lady of Fatima Grotto at Sta. Monica Church, Panay.jpg|Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto at the foot of the bell tower File:Stairway to choir loft and Entrance Door of the Church of Panay.jpg|Stairway to the choir loft File:Original Roof Truss of the Church of Panay.jpg|Former roof truss of the church File:Artefacts and memorabilia of Church of Panay.jpg|Artefacts File:Bas-relief work of artist Joseph Bergaño.jpg|Bas-relief by Joseph Bergaño, 1770s