By Isabel De Leon

Thousands of devotees of the Black Nazarene should make the quiet corner of  Recoletos and Muralla Streets in Intramuros, Manila part of their barefoot trek and pilgrimage as it was where the original Nuestro Padre Jesus Nazareno was enshrined in an old Recollect Church known as the San Nicolas de Tolentino Church.

The Traslacion, in fact, which has been the highlight of the annual Feast of Black Nazarene every January 9, commemorates the transfer of the Black Nazarene image from its original shrine in Intramuros to the church in Quiapo.

HOPE IN THE MIDDLE — No pain, no suffering, no guilt, no despair, no fame, no failure, no woes, no sorrow, no inhibitions, no fear, no shame, no price, no limits, no reason and no excuse will stop any of these devotees from reaching the Black Nazarene in whose image their faith sees all hope during yesterday’s traslacion in Manila. (Rio Leonelle Deluvio)

The National Historical Institute installed in 2006 an official historical marker at the original home of the Black Nazarene which is now the site of the head office of the Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation.

The marker gives a detailed albeit brief history in Filipino of the site which it identified as the Church and Convent of the Recollects.

The site was where the church and convent of San Nicolas de Tolentino of the Order of the Augustinian Recollects (OAR) was built in 1608 through the efforts of Don Bernardino del Castillo Maldonado, a devotee and Fort Santiago maestro de ocampo.

The Iglesia de San Nicolas de Tolentino was the home of the OAR and the Order's main headquarters in Asia. It was the first home of the Nuestro Padre Jesús Nazareno or more commonly known as the Black Nazarene as well as theVirgen le la Salud, San Jose, and Santa Luzia.

The church was known for its stately ambiance, beautiful interiors, its 5-tier belfry and its elaborately carved facade.

The main altar was in the Baroque style. Divided into niches and stories, the gilded retablo alternated images and painted canvases. In this church, the famous Recollect organ builder, Fray Diego Cera, who built the Las Piñas bamboo organ, constructed his masterpiece. He built a massive pipe organ, outfitting the nave with pipes some ingenuously hidden so that when sounded, the walls itself seemed to sing. In the 19th century, the church walls were painted with figurative drawings. One on the transept walls depicted the Pope and St. Peter’s in Rome."

It was damaged by an earthquake on November 30, 1645 and totally destroyed on August 20, 1658. It was rebuilt but was again damaged by another earthquake in the year 1722. After the liberation, the church's ruined shell was still intact but in 1959, it was totally demolished.

The Black Nazarene was transferred to the Quiapo Church and the Augustinian Recollects moved out of the walled city and found its new home in the San Sebastian Church also in Quiapo.

In 1976, Manila Bulletin bought the lot and set up its head office there. (Photos and excerpts from Nostalgia Filipinas)

See more photos: A fervent Nazarene devotion