San Diego Pro-cathedral, Catholic pro-cathedral in Silay, Philippines.
San Diego Pro-Cathedral is a concrete church built in the Romanesque style in Silay, in the Philippines, with a dome rising above the central nave. The floor plan follows a Latin cross shape, and inside, Corinthian columns run along the nave supporting the ceiling overhead.
The current concrete building was funded by sugar baron Jose Ledesma in 1925, replacing an earlier structure made from bamboo and nipa palm. This shift from a simple wooden church to a solid concrete one reflected the wealth that the sugar trade had brought to Silay by that time.
The church is dedicated to Saint Diego de Alcala, a 15th-century Franciscan lay brother from Spain. During visits, it is easy to notice that it functions as a living place of worship where residents gather daily, and feast days draw noticeably larger crowds from across the city.
The building stands on Rizal Street, directly across from the city park, and is easy to reach on foot from the town center. Weekdays tend to be quieter, making it easier to look around calmly, while weekends and feast days bring in more visitors.
This church is the only pro-cathedral in the Philippines located outside Metro Manila, which makes it stand out among the country's diocesan churches. Its dome is also the only one of its kind found among all the churches across Negros Occidental province.
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