The Nuestra Señora dela Asuncion Church also known as “Santa Maria Asunta Church”, “Shrine of Asuncion de Santa Maria” and” Santa Maria Church”, is one of the four baroque churches inscribed in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage List in 1993 located on a top of a freestanding hill surrounded by a stone retaining wall which gives it a citadel appearance at Poblacion Sur, Santa Maria, Ilocos Sur, north of Manila, Philippines. The World Heritage inscription described the church as follows: “Unlike other town churches in the Philippines, which conform to the Spanish tradition of siting them on the central plaza, the Church of Nuestra Señora dela Asuncion in Santa Maria with its convento are on a hill surrounded by a defensive wall. Also unusual are the siting of the convento parallel to the facade of the church and that of the separate bell tower (characteristic of Philippine-Hispanic architecture) at the midpoint of the nave wall. This was dictated by the hill on which it is located. The brick church follows the standard Philippine layout, with a monumental facade masking a straight roof-line covering a long rectangular building. It is alleged to be built on a solid raft as a precaution against earthquake damage. The walls are devoid of ornament but have delicately carved side entrances and strong buttresses.” (whc.unesco.org)
This baroque church was inscribed as a World Heritage Site on the basis of:
Criterion (ii): The group of churches established a style of building and design that was adapted to the physical conditions in the Philippines which had an important influence on later church architecture in the region.
Criterion (iv): The Baroque Churches of the Philippines represent the fusion of European church design and construction using local materials and decorative motifs to form a new church-building tradition.
The church has been declared as a national historical landmark in the Philippines by virtue of the provisions of the Presidential Decree No. 260, dated August 1, 1973, as amended by Presidential Decree No. 375, dated January 14, 1974 and Presidential Decree No. 1515, dated June 11, 1978.
The massive octagonal tower of decreasing diameter is crowned by a small dome and detached from the church proper. It is situated about midpoint of the lateral view of the whole church which makes it unique from the traditional church-tower arrangement in the region that is aligned with the church façade or forward of it like in the other churches in the region. The tower was constructed in 1810 by Fr. Jose Cardaño. Its bells arrived in 1811.
In 1819, the church was initially constructed but left unfinished during the time of its parish priest Fr. Jose Cardaño. The work resumed in 1857 and lasted till 1880 during the time of its parish priest Fr. Benigno Fernandez. The Santa Maria Church has three stone stairways that were constructed during the time of parish priest Fr. Lorenzo Rodriguez. Two stairways were constructed in the western side. The main stairway consisting of 85 steps was divided into four flights that lead to the church-convento complex comfortably. The stairway’s first and second flight have 20 steps each, 22 steps on third and 21 steps on the fourth flight. Two steps were added to complete 85. A 54 steps stairway was erected in the western side. On the eastern side, a 73 steps stairway was also constructed. One can view an old cemetery with neglected century old chapel. During the time of parish priest Fr. Lorenzo Rodriguez, an 8-meter retaining wall surrounding the hill where the church, convent and tower were situated was constructed on 1859. In 1863, the church was remodeled. The construction lasted on 1871. The convent was constructed on 1880. In 1889, Fr. Juan Zallo finished the church construction.
