Paoay Church, Ilocos Norte
The Saint Augustine Church, commonly known as the Paoay Church, is a Roman Catholic church in the Municipality of Paoay, Ilocos Norte in the Philippines. Completed in 1710, the church is famous for its distinct architecture highlighted by the enormous buttresses on the sides and back of the building. It was declared as a National Cultural Treasure by the Philippine government in 1973 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site under the collective group of Baroque Churches of the Philippines in 1993.
Another UNESCO World Heritage Site, the San Agustin Church, otherwise known as the Paoay Church, is a Roman Catholic church famous for its gigantic side and back buttresses—a distinct feature of Spanish colonial earthquake architecture. Dating its construction as early as 1593 and completed by 1710, the church has already witnessed and survived a lot of calamities owing to its preventive Baroque-influenced structure.