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Yasothon Travel Guide :
Wat Song Yae Catholic Church
| Wat Song Yae Catholic Church is located in the village of Ban Nong Song Yae and all the villagers there are Catholics. The church has a long history but interesting history. |
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Initially it was located in a small hut and thereafter it was rebuilt a few times. According to historical records, the current building is the fourth time it was rebuilt and this happened in 1947.
In 1908, five families came to Ban Nong Song Yae, which was then a verdant forest, after being banished from their village for being zombies. Here in the middle of the forest, these families met Father Dechanel and Father Ombrocio. They pleaded with the priests to cast the evil out of them and the priests complied. This prompted the 5 families to turn into Catholics and they settled there. More people started migrating to this tiny hamlet and finally in 1909, a small hut was built where mass and service started taking place.
Today, the church is quite impressive and can easily seat over a 1000 people. Unlike churches that you see in the West, Wat Song Yae Catholic Church is built in traditional Thai architecture. It is made from wood and it is 16 meters wide and 57 meters long. Nearly 80,000 wooden planks were used to make the roof along with 360 piles made from wood. The floor is also made from wood, namely Malabar ironwood and Jamba.
The bell tower is also constructed in Thai style of architecture and the diameter of the cylindrical tower is 2 feet. The bell tower is not connected to the church and stands alone looking very impressive.
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