If there is any tourist destination in Iloilo that never fails to satisfy me whenever I visit, it would be the Parish Church of San Jose in Plaza Libertad. The Church of San Jose is the queen of old Iloilo or the downtown city. It may not be as popular as the magnificent St. Anne Church in Molo or the miraculous St. Elizabeth of Hungary Cathedral in Jaro, but it is undoubtedly the most historical religious structure built in the entire city.The beauty of San Jose Church looms unmindful of its time frame, it is as perfect as it has always been whether it is sunrise or sunset. It's artistic neoclassic facade with few details of greek, byzantine and tuscan architecture speaks of what a perfect Spanish Colonial Era structure is.According to history, the church was about to be bombed in the second world war when a false alarm was raised that Japanese soldiers were using the structure as a hideout. However, the alarm was proven wrong just before the church is to be destroyed. Miraculously, San Jose church is the only religious edifice in Iloilo that has survived the 1948 Earthquake calamity, which destroyed many of the beautiful Spanish and American Colonial structures in the Region
