Remnants of once majestic structures or those gone forever
Mangarin is considered as one of the oldest town in Mindoro and said to be founded by the Augustinian Recollects in the 17th century although I haven’t found yet a document that says all these. The island of Mindoro was one of the most affected with the Muslim slave raidings that many of its town …
The middle of the 18th to mid 19th century was not a good time for much of the coastal towns especially in the Visayas. Slave raiding by the Iranuns commissioned by the Sulu Sultanate devastated much of these communities. It was in this circumstances that the town of Catmon in the province of Cebu was …
The belfry of Balilihan is one of the unique belfries in Bohol in that it is the farthest positioned from the present church, atop a hill overlooking a wide area. It not only acted as a bell tower but during the Spanish era and World War II, was utilized as a watchtower due to its …
In the island of Pacijan, in the Camotes group, there’s a remnant of an octagonal moro watchtower that has been a silent sentinel over the past hundred years or more. It sits atop a coral outcrop just beside the sea with its upper level gone and one side is open, where the entrance might have …
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.
It would have been a sight as one enters the lost church of Oton with its trompe l’oiels massive copula and an impressive gothic style and four sided retablo at the center.
The lost church of Oton was the only one of its kind in the Philippines in form and structure. It’s architecture is a combination of different architectural styles: gothic, classical and romanesque, a trait that is very much common in most Spanish colonial period churches in the country.
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 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.
Nineteen months after the fire in Oslob Church, the second in its history, I visited the church again during a south Cebu trip and from what I have found, there is still so much to do.
Barrio Inayagan in Barangay Valladolid is the former site of the visita of Salug. In 1622, Muslim slave raiders destroyed it forcing the people to transfer inland where the present town center of Carcar is now located. While there are no longer any trace of the structures, archaeological excavations found segments of walls.
Salug continues to live in the memories of the people as Barrio Inayagan is also known as Daanglungsod or the old town.
Extant mortuary chapels in the country are hard to find. Except maybe if you are in the province of Iloilo where there are a few excellent examples. However, beyond that province and Cebu, there are also scattered across the rest of the regions but not all and I haven’t seen one from Mindanao. During my travels, I was able to find some that are now posted here.
The cemetery and mortuary chapels in Cebu are not as grand as those in Iloilo and are in different degrees of condition with most having been renovated and one in near collapse. In this post, I am presenting the eight cemetery and mortuary chapels that can be found in Cebu: Calamba (Cebu City), Sibonga, Argao, Dalaguete and Oslob.
Many parishioners wept upon seeing the ruins of their century-old church, which was gutted by fire in Oslob town, about 117 km south of Cebu City.
They were, however, thankful that the 19th century image of the Our Lady of Guadalupe that was placed inside a glass case at the center of the altar was spared in the fire that broke out at 1:45 a.m. yesterday.
Firefighters also found 73 other icons below the bell tower and some portions of the Our Lady of Immaculate Conception parish church in barangay Poblacion.