Boljo-on is one of the oldest towns in southern Cebu. It is also the quaintest and picturesque. Its narrow coastal plains and bordered cliff and luxuriant hills, which offers a commanding view of the Bohol Strait.

Boljo-on Parish

        The town was created in 1598 while the parish was established a year later. A certain Fr. Blanco disputed this claim and asserted that the Parish was founded in 1600.
Boljo-on's famous church was created in 1606 with Barili and Pari-an in 1614 and Mandaue in 1630. A document that still exists in Archives of the Augustinian Province of the Philippines recorded the formal establishment of Boljo-on's Parish in 1692 with Fray Nicholas de la Cuadra, OSA, as its first parish priest. The present church was constructed in 1783 by Fray Ambrosio Otero, OSA, in 1783 and completed by Fray Julian Bermejo, OSA, who also continued the church convent that was finished in 1841.

Boljo-on Church

        Boljo-on Church has a veritable showcase of old and intricate carvings and bass relief It is pseudo-baroque rococo with a beautifully decorated interior. It has a nave and a transcript and has 28-pillars, 2 meters thick and made of mortar and lime, which supports the walls as thick as the pillars.

        It is widely regarded that of all Cebu's churches, the Boljo-on church best gives one sense of the Philippine’s colonial past. Its towers are unusual because of its Islamic characteristic of being square, rather than curved. The church's design is similar in pattern to the ones in Argao and Dalaguete with the exemptions of some rococo decorations on the panels and along shallow pillars. The church has the appearance of an impressionist painting “a la Greco" with its elongated shape.

        The Boljo-on Church is the oldest remaining original stone church in Cebu. In 1999, the National Historical Institute declared Boljo-on's Church a National Historical Landmark and the following year, The National Museum declared it as a National Cultural Treasure.

History of Boljo-on

        Boljo-on possibly started as a small settlement which eventually grew and prospered. In 1732, Boljo-on had 1,760 parishioners. By the year 1760 however, the population had grown to 1,950 which is equivalent to 650 paying tributes, excluding 1,454 non-paying tributes that made a total of 3,404 parishioners. Royal Treasury which is the equivalent of taxes in modern terminology. Originally, one tribute was equal to three persons.

        Boljo-on was exempted from any tribute in 1894 and 1896. The population then was 7,694. Population increase was at such a slow rate due to the Muslim raiders which ransacked and burned most of the town. Boljo-on once contributed an annual rent of 80 cavans of borona to the convent of then San Augustinian Church, now the Basilica Del Santo Nino de Cebu. This was later reduced to half in 1726 because it was found too burdensome for Boljo-on, during the time of Bishop Sebastian B. Foroinda, OSA (17181728), and the ninth Bishop of the Diocese of Cebu.

        A Christian Mission was also erected in the place called the "Ermita" where priests perform religious services. The earliest Christian mission in Boljo-on may have been established by the Augustinians in 1599. The Province of Cebu was then under their pastoral care and missionaries from the town of Carcar regularly visited the settlement in Boljo-on. With the conversion of the people to Catholicism, a provisional church was constructed but without a resident priest.

        The first recorded residency of a priest in Boljo-on was in 1692, even with the presence of the priest in the settlement, the predations of the Muslim raiders upon the settlement continued, until the early 1800's. In fact, it was due to the incursions of the Muslim raiders that a massive stones church was erected by the Missionaries, designed to withstand the raids. In addition, the Augustinian placed the church under the protections of the Virgin Mary and accordingly enshrined her image in the Church's Altar.