The parish of the Santo Niño and the town of Valencia began as Barrio Panangatan of Dimiao. Conjoined with adjacent barrios, it was constituted a town in 1869 and a parish in 1871 and named after a city on Spain’s southern coast. The church building commenced during the term of Fray Mariano Cornago (1870-77) and was completed in 1882 by Fray Francisco Arraya, who laid the church’s wooden floor. The church walls were of tabique but were later replaced by cement.

Heritage Site: The church is cruciform with a steep roof and a pyramidal crossing tower. Cut stone is used in parts of the church like the façade, however, concrete is found elsewhere. The real treasure of the church is its wooden floor of alternating dark (tindalo or balayong) and light (molave or tugas) wood planks. At the transept crossing an eight pointed flower design is used for the floor while, a herringbone pattern is used elsewhere. The interior is unpainted, unlike most Bohol churches, and has altars in the neoclassical idiom.

The convent is located not beside the church as customary but across the street. This structure was renovated in the 19th century. Just recently, the local church leadership has caused the fencing of the entire vicinity of the convent.

Going to Valencia Parish Church

From Manila, just take a flight to Tagbilaran, which takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes. It is also possible to take a boat to Bohol, but will take 25 hours, and is only advisable if you have plenty of time at hand and enjoy a trip on sea, or have to travel on a rock-bottom budget or with a lot of luggage. Currently, there are numerous daily flights from Manila to Tagbilaran.