Dulce Nombre de Maria Church

The church of Dulce Nombre de Maria (Sweet Name of Mary) is one of the oldest continuously used church sites on Guam, with origins in the early Spanish mission period of the 1670s. The current building is not ancient — it has been rebuilt and restored several times after typhoon damage and wartime destruction — but it stands on a site with a continuous 350-year history of worship and community life.

The church anchors the village plaza and remains the social centre of Merizo's Chamorro community. Mass is well attended, particularly on feast days, and the annual village fiesta centred on the church draws Chamorro families from across Guam. The interior is simple but well-maintained, and the setting amid coconut palms with the lagoon visible behind is genuinely lovely.

things to do sight
A story
The original church at this site was built in 1669 by Padre Diego Luis de Sanvitores, the Jesuit missionary who established the first permanent Spanish mission on Guam. Sanvitores was killed two years later by a local chief — an event that triggered a series of devastating wars that reduced the Chamorro population by more than 90 percent over the following decades.