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Minor Basilica and National Shrine of Saint Lorenzo Ruiz

Binondo Church, also known as the Minor Basilica of the National Shrine of Saint Lorenzo Ruiz and formerly known as Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Parish, is located in the District of Binondo, Manila fronting Plaza San Lorenzo Ruiz, in the Philippines. This church was founded by Dominican priests in 1596[1] to serve their Chinese converts to Christianity.[2] The original building was destroyed in 1762 by British bombardment. A new granite church was completed on the same site in 1852 however it was greatly damaged during the Second World War, with only the western façade and the octagonal belfry surviving.

Saint Lorenzo Ruiz, who was born of a Chinese father and a Filipino mother, trained in this church and afterwards went as a missionary to Japan, where he and his companions were martyred for refusing to renounce Christianity. Lorenzo is the Philippines’ first saint, and was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1987. A large statue of the saint stands in front of the church.