The parish of St. James owes its beginnings to Juan de Salcedo, the captain who founded the first Spanish settlement in Bicol in 1573.
Lured by stories of Paracale’s gold, Salcedo had already ventured into the region two years prior. But his first exploration was short-lived, summarily ended when his uncle, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, ordered him back to Manila. Following Legazpi’s demise, Salcedo and his men traveled back to Bicol. But instead of settling in Paracale, they chose to sail up the Bicol River until they reached its source, Bato Lake.
Salcedo established the garrison of Santiago de Libong on the banks of the lake, named in honor of St. James, the patron saint of Spain and the first apostle to become a martyr. St. James, whose remains are kept in Spain’s Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, was then more popularly known as Santiago Matamoros or Saint James the Moor-slayer.
The settlement of Santiago de Libong soon grew into a township that also adopted St. James as its patron saint. Historical accounts place the parish’s first church in the village of Linao. It was strategically built along the banks of the Quimba River, a tributary of Bato Lake regularly traversed by the soldiers. But as the town flourished, the church was eventually transferred to the Poblacion or town center.
With the arrival of the Franciscan missionaries in 1578, the town was ceded to the province under San Gregorio Magno. A church made of red bricks was then constructed in Linao in 1591. However, This church was destroyed in the middle of the 17th century, leading to the reconstruction of a new church.
In 1847, the town was ceded to Albay from Camarines. A new church made of solid bricks was built by Vicente de Dosbarrios in 1865, along with a casa parroquial (parish house) made of stone.
The church’s original architecture was preserved until a strong earthquake devastated it in 1907. It has since been reconstructed with new and stronger materials, but with the same look that has made it a popular destination for the faithful as well as tourists for hundreds of years.
And now this is a church from 1907 to present renovated many times.