Last January 2010, I was invited by the North Philippines Visitors Bureau to join a media tour of travel writers and bloggers to experience North Luzon. Part of the tour included a visit to 9 churches.
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Balaanong Bahandi is your ultimate guide to the Archidocese of Cebu’s architectural heritage.
Atop of a wooden door at the sacristy is a relief of a church that is unlike the present structure.
This segment of the visita iglesia series features seven of the important churches within Manila.
Muslim slave raiding is one of the darkest history in the country.
In the June 2010 issue of Bluprint Magazine, San Sebastian Minor Basilica is the main feature entitled: Prefab Gothic Revival: Saving the All-Steel San Sebastian Basilica in Manila. The article is written by Tina Paterno, a New York based conservator, who is in the country spearheading, as project head, the restoration of this stunning and historic edifice. I’ve contributed images.
It would have been one of the country’s spectacular churches, if not the most beautiful were it not for a natural cataclysm that razed it to the ground. Oton’s once majestic church, in the form of a Greek cross, was unique as it was the only one with such a plan and architecture blending Byzantine with Gothic and classical elements.
A free downloadable and printable PDF guide is now available for those who would want to do the traditional visita iglesia in Cebu! This freebie features 28 still existing Spanish colonial era churches in this historic island province, the cradle of Christianity in the Philippines, either wholly built or with it’s façade intact.
The first Franciscans arrived in the Philippines in 1578, the second order to come after the Augustinians. They founded many schools, bridges, roads, dams and hospitals. They also built many impressive stone churches that still stand today and can be found in Manila (Sta. Ana), the southern towns of Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna, Quezon, the Bicol region and the Visayan islands of Samar and Leyte.
A few kilometers from the poblacion of Nasugbu, Batangas, in the town of Lumangbayan, aptly named as this translates to “old town” which is the original location of Nasugbu, is a Spanish colonial period church ruin that is still being used by devotees today. However, it was in this church that many of the townspeople were imprisoned and burned in 1896.
My name is Estan Cabigas and I am a religious colonial architecture enthusiast.
An inveterate traveler, I have gone around the islands and marveled at the still extant religious heritage structures in the country.
More about the author and this blog.
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