 Standing 96 metres (315 ft) long and 45 metres (148 ft) wide, St. Martin de Tours Basilica or simply Taal Church is considered the largest church in the Philippines and in Asia. Taal church is one of the only five churches in South East Asia given the honor as a Minor Basilica. The basilica is known for its classical air and feature. At the front of the church is a small yet, clean and quiet park with a lot of stalls selling kalamay, sapin sapin, bibingka and other kakanin or rice cakes which is the town's specialty. A cemented stairway at the end of the stalls is the way up to the church's main front area where a big, old church bell is on display. The interior of the basilica, including the kumbento, the dining hall and the bulwagan, where folk dancers usually rehearse, gives the church an ambiance of the colonial time because the architectural design and furnishings are Spanish in influence. Another opportunity in visiting the church is going up by small doors, steep, dark and narrow stairs to the roof top where the whole town and Balayan Lake are visible. | The church, with St. Martin of Tours as the patron saint, was built on 1575 in the present day San Nicholas Batangas, three years after the foundation of the town in 1572 by Augustinian Missionaries and is also considered as one of the oldest churches in the continent. |
| The interior of the basilica, including the kumbento, the dining hall and the bulwagan, where folk dancers usually rehearse, gives the church an ambiance of the colonial time because the architectural design and furnishings are Spanish in influence. Another opportunity in visiting the church is going up by small doors, steep, dark and narrow stairs to the roof top where the whole town and Balayan Lake are visible. |  St. Martin de Tours (Taal Church) Schedule of Masses Daily Morning Mass: 6:00AM Wed & Sat afternoon: 5:00PM Sunday: 5:30AM, 7:30AM, 9:30AM, 5:00PM photo credit: Ronalina Borbon Lontoc |