The Church of Dauis was established as a parish in 1697, the church was built by Fr. Jose Sanchez, S.J. of light material. As of 1886, its oldest parish record was dated April 20, 1697. Around 1753, Fr. Joseph Nepomuceno built a convent and a more durable church. This could be the year when the Residencia Boholana ( the headquarters of the Jesuit superior stationed in the Bohol mission) was transferred from Loboc to Dauis. The present convent running parallel to the church is probably the older Jesuit- built Church, while the L-wing is most probably later additional by the Augustinian Recollects.

In 1795, the Jesuit- built Church was burned.

Upon the assumption of the Augustinian recollects, an octagonal tower was built by Fray Santiago del Carmen in 1774. The church also has a baluarte and fort made of stone, attesting to the perilous location of the town which faces the Sea of Mindanao from where Moro raiding teams used to come. It is said that the mysterious fresh-water well found just below the altar of the church, was dug to supply people who run inside the church during one of these slaving raids with potable water. More probably, the presence of this well was the reason for building the church over it, to equip the church for prolonged siege, since during those times, the church served as dual purpose of being a house of worship as well as a fortress at the same time.

In 1863, Fray Julio Saldaña started building the present church. Construction of the church was, however, stopped in 1879 because the dome of the church kept on collapsing, a phenomenon that townspeople attributed to divine intervention ( It is said that during the Spanish times, the town was a sort of R&R center for Spanish soldiers, thus, the existence of many saloons and houses of ill-repute in the town displeased the Patrona so much, she did not allow the church building to be finished).

The church of Dauis has the most beautiful outer stone work among all the other churches in Bohol. Its smoothly-dressed coral stones, found in all four sides of the building attest to the presence of fine artisans living in the town before, and even up to the present.

The church of Dauis was finally completed in the early part of this century. On August 23, 1923, bishop Juan Gorordo of Cebu (Bohol was then the spiritual administration of the Archdiocese of Cebu) came to consecrate the church.

The church of Dauis boast of having the most beautiful ceiling paintings among all the old churches of Bohol. These ceiling paintings, especially the trompe d’oeil decoration of the nave ceiling, reminiscent of Renaissance basilicas in Rome, were done by the same Cebuano artist who was commissioned starting in the 1920’s to paint the ceilings of the churches in Bohol. Rey Francia of Manalili, Cebu.

During the Second World War, the Holy Spirit Sisters of Saint Joseph’s Academy in Tagbilaran took refuge in the church convent of Dauis. During the war of liberation, in 1945, the town suffered terribly from Allied bombings, but the church fortunately, did not sustain a direct hit.

Dauis parish is dedicated to the Virgin of the Assumption. The church used to display at its main altar a beautiful antique statue of the Virgin, with ivory head and hands and thousands of pesos worth of jewelries bequeathed by its grateful devotees in the past (again, these jewelries attest to the other traditional trade of the town, the making of fine jewelries). Many stories about the miracles of the “Birhen sa Dauis” have been handed down from generation to generation. As a result, Dauis came to be a pilgrimage center starting in Spanish times. In 1974, the ivory face and hands of the image of the Assumption, together with all its jewelries disappeared in a daring burglary that has remained unsolved until now.