Description of the attraction
The Quiapo Church, officially called the Little Basilica of the Black Jesus of the Nazarene, is a Roman Catholic church located in the Manila region of Cuiapo. Today this church is one of the most popular in the country. It contains a particularly revered statue of Jesus Christ - the Black Nazarene, which, according to many parishioners, has miraculous powers. The church was painted cream after the original Mexican Baroque building burned down in 1928.
When the Governor-General of the Philippines Santiago de Vera founded the Cuiapo area in August 1586, the Franciscan monks built the first bamboo church here. One of its founders was the brother of San Pedro Bautista, whose image can be seen on one of the side niches of the church. In 1863, the Kuiapo church was partially destroyed during a strong earthquake and was rebuilt only in 1899. As mentioned above, after only 30 years - in 1928 - the church burned down almost to the ground, only the walls and the bell tower remained. The restored shrine miraculously survived the Second World War, although all the surrounding buildings were almost completely destroyed. Until 1984, the church building was regularly rebuilt and expanded to accommodate thousands of believers, and in 1988 the church was consecrated as the Little Basilica.
Today, thousands of sick and suffering people come to the church to see the statue of Jesus of Nazareth, in the hope that prayer in front of the holy image will help healing. Every January, the Trassalon religious procession takes place: it starts in the Risal Park at the Quirino Tribune and lasts all day. The procession carrying the statue of the Nazarene arrives at the Kuiapo church only late at night. Tens of thousands of believers from all over the country are gathering to take part in this procession.
