Majayjay Church - One of the oldest church in the Philippines

Majayjay served as the site of early Catholicism in Laguna. In 1571, the Franciscans established a mission town with Don Gaspar Osorio, Agustín Osorio, Juan Osorio, Juan de Mendoza, Ventura Mag-olop, Aman Lingasan and Martín Siasip. The first church was constructed by locals in 1575 near the May-it river made of light materials. In 1616 to church was moved to its present location that was made of stone and was completed in 1649 but partially burned in 1660. Rehabilitation started in 1711 and finished in 1730 by 14,000 people on forced labor and a rehabilitation cost of $26,000 by Jose de Puertollano. Instead of rebuilding the church, Puertollano decided to sandwich the ruins between two layers of brick resulting in an unusual wall thickness of 3 meters (9.8 ft). It took 19 years for the people of Majayjay to complete the church which was made of volcanic tuff with red tiles and prime lumber. On completion in 1730, the church became the biggest in the Philippines.