A chronological landmark in Palo is the Cathedral which was built in 1596 by Fr. Alonso de Humanes, The Palo cathedral has been rebuilt twice - in years prior to 1897 after damage by fire and tropical storm, and later in 1897 when a big tropical storm unroofed the church, damaged the convent and other houses in the townThe Palo Church was created a cathedral on March 27,1938 when Msgr. Guglielmo Piani, apostolic delegate, carried the papal bull from Rome, proclaimed it and erected the diocese of Leyte, designating Palo as its seat and Msgr. Manuel Mascarinas of Bohol its first bishopInside the patio of this church, enclosed by walls of Spanish stone and adobe, is an open esplanade where formerly Fr. De la Fuente kept his stall of fast native ponies, a zoological compilation of rabbits, turkeys, guinea pigs, a huge python fed with live pullets and a dovecote swarming with white pigeons. This esplanade used to be the people’s rendezvous when escaping from marauding moros in the days of the moro piracy centuries ago. It had also a huge well which provided water for drinking during the long months of dry spells. On the aperture on the Spanish walls is an insignia of the Jesuit order, center of attraction of visiting Jesuits when they come to Palo, indicating that the cathedral and the walls therein were originally Jesuit.
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