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A Catholic shrine built in the Brutalist style. It was also buried to its roof by lahar flows from Mount Pinatubo in 1995, but was partially excavated in 2005. The structure lost of its height to the volcanic mud, and its interior, which was partially cleared out, exudes a cave-like atmosphere, with the jungle-like altarpiece also carved from lahar.
The Archdiocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes, commonly known as the Sunken Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes of Cabetican, is a Roman Catholic church in Cabetican, Bacolor, Pampanga, Philippines. It is under the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of San Fernando. Once standing seven-storeys high at its peak, or the equivalent of between 18 and 24 meters, it was buried by a combination of accumulated volcanic ash from the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo and subsequent lahar mud that flowed into Bacolor from 1991 to 1995. The lahar flow that entered Bacolor occurred after the provincial government of Pampanga decided to divert the continuing lahar movement to select areas within the province in order to spare highly urbanized Angeles.
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An 18th century residence that somehow managed to survive the Pinatubo eruption intact and unburied by lahar.
Bacolor Church, Sunken Church
Bacolor's main Roman Catholic church, which also doubles as a memorial to the 1991 Mount Pinatubo eruption. The original church building dates back to 1587 but was destroyed by an earthquake, and the present church is from 1897. During a lahar flow from Mount Pinatubo exacerbated by a typhoon in 1995, the church, along with its cemetery became half-buried in lahar, which has since hardened.
The church remains a place of worship, following an effort to hollow out the structure's ceiling to provide space and the conversion of the choir loft into the main entrance. It also hosts an ecclesiastical and local history museum housing religious artefacts and paintings by local artists of the 1991 eruption, along with photographs showing what the church looked like before it was half-sunk. At the museum's exit is a stall selling church-related souvenirs.