Parish Church of Saint Andrew the Apostle of BacarraParish Church of Saint Andrew the Apostle of Bacarra is a National Historical Landmark, NHCP; Registered Property, Province of Ilocos Norte located at Bacarra, Ilocos Norte, Region I.
The town of Bacarra was founded by Augustinians on 18 September 1590, headed by Fr. Benito Mena who was a native of Vigan. The church dates back to the 16th century. Construction was supervised by Fray Felipe Fernandez of the Order of Saint Augustine. When the first building was destroyed, it was rebuilt in 1700 and was finished by 1706 headed by Fray Diego de Mendrosqueta, Fray Miguel Abiol and Fray Antonio de Villanueva. The church was damaged by an earthquake the following year and later by yet another one. The present church was rebuilt by Fray Juan Martin that was dated around the middle of the 19th century.
Indigenous materials were used for the construction. Coral bricks made of sticky clay and molasses mixed with leaves and tree trunks of a tree soaked in water or “sablot” were used instead of cement, granite or adobe stones. The mixture resulted in a sticky fluid which was then combined with lime from ashes of burnt shells. The bricks were pieced together with stucco, the mixture beaten to paste. All the labor was manual. // The Parish Church of St. Andrew in Bacarra, Ilocos Norte was first constructed at the end of the 16th century by Agustinians but was later destroyed during an earthquake in the 1700s. In the mid-19th century, then parish priest Fr. Juan Martin orders its reconstruction.Supported by large buttresses, the rectangular-shaped church is adjoined to an L-shaped structure which serves as a convent. Forty meters away stands a gargantuan bell tower. The tower stands at 50 meters high and was later added in 1828. The complex also features a baptismal area with its original design and dome-like brick roofing still intact; as well as an unaltered rectangular brick deep well with stairs that descend into it.