Isabela province still has five churches with its facades intact including the best brick edifice in the country, Tumauini Church

This latest edition of my visita iglesia series focuses on the three existing Spanish colonial era churches of Nueva Vizcaya.

It was a victory for heritage as the Cabatuan parish priest, stung by his illegal structure built infront of the Cabatuan cemetery chapel, demolished the extension.

Cabatuan’s beautiful cemetery chapel is one of a few existing in the country with its highly stylized bas reliefs and beautiful design. Now, the parish priest, Fr. Patricio A. Salarda is building a modern covered extension right infront of the central entrance.

In Quezon’s Bondoc Peninsula, four old and interesting churches can be found in the towns of Catanauan, Macalelon, Pitogo and Mulanay.

The town of San Jose in Camarines Sur still has its original cemetery structures except for the chapel wherein it is in ruins.

Bambi Harper’s scathing article on the desecration of Argao Church’s once beautiful antique retablo mayor. Originally published in the 6 August 2005 edition of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

For so many years, I’ve been wanting to visit the Capul fortress-church complex in Capul Island, Northern Samar but it was only last weekend that I finally made it. And I was in awe of the structures.

Ten exceptional and poorly known Spanish colonial era cemetery chapels that are still existing in the Philippines scattered in Luzon and the Visayas.

The 27th of October 2011, was an auspicious moment for the town of Minalin, Pampanga as the parish church and its liturgical collection was declared by the National Museum as a National Cultural Treasure

It is not known when the old cemetery of Anini-y in Antique, just at the side of the main road and a few kilometers from the town center, was built but the design is the same with the neighboring town of Tobias Fornier (formerly Dao).

The construction of the original kumbento (parochial house) of Anini-y was continued by Fray Jeronimo Vaquerin when he arrived 1878 and finished it a year later. During World War II, it was almost totally destroyed and the current structure was built over the ruins.

The belfry of Anini-y church consists of three tiers with a quadrilateral base and the remaining two tiers octagonal and capped with a dome. It is located at the right side of the facade and is attached to the church.

A free downloadable and printable PDF guide is now available for those who would want to tour Intramuros and the places where the seven major churches, except for two, used to be found within the walls. This freebie showcases the eight structures in the historic walled city, all archival images.

The baptistry of Anini-y Church is located at the base of the belfry with a vaulted stone ceiling made of corals. It has two large arched windows and the walls are a meter thick. When one enters the main portal, it is at the left through an arched entrance.