"For better or for worse, the history of Philippine Catholicism has always been closely bound up with the history of the Filipino people and the development of the nation. The essays gathered into this volume, however--some of them previously published and here revised, one published for the first time--deal primarily with the inner development of Catholicism in the Philippines. Nonetheless, they inevitably also speak of the development of the Filipino people." --from the Introduction

Simbahan introduces fifty sites chosen among the country's most culturally or esthetically significant churches. Their descriptions are among the tidbits culled from anthropology, linguistics, geography, popular devotions, a bit of history (art history) and local culture.