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 …
Lost in the row of houses in Barangay Luyang in Carmen, Cebu is a small fort that, unfortunately has been ruined and almost obliterated as vegetation and human habitation has overun this structure. Well, except for a section of the walls and a part of the watchtower. Cebu was one of the hardest hit areas …
Pitalo Chapel in San Fernando was built in 1925 and a portion of it burned last 3 May 2016. I visited and took photos of this edifice after the fire and one of the interesting things that I saw were the series of ceiling paintings found above the left and right aisle. The center aisle …
There is not much to see inside the San Fernando Church in Cebu today due to renovations done to its interior in 1972. This was probably due to the effects of Vatican 2 which closed in 1965. I’m not sure if the original is cruciform but basing on the archival photo in the introductory post, …
The Parish of San Isidro Labrador in San Fernando town, Cebu was established as an independent parish by the Augustinians through diocesan decree on 19 June, 1858 with Fray Fernando Sanchez as the first parish priest. The present church was designed by Fernando Escondrillas, Spanish architect and engineer who drew the plans for the church …
The small chapel of San Vicente Ferrer in Pitalo, San Fernando, Cebu was gutted by fire before 5PM last 3 May. News reports indicated that a cancer surivor bought P5,000 worth of candles to offer as thanksgiving, although warned not to light it simultaneously, just didn’t follow and proceeded to light all the candles. The …
The Bantayan sa Hari (translated to “King’s watchtower”) in Mandaue City sits rather awkwardly at its location overlooking the Mactan Channel in Brgy. Looc surrounded by unrelated structures and almost choked out of existence. In the early 19th century, when it was probably built, it was forlorn yet majestic, guarding the mouth of a key …
Catmon town in northeastern Cebu was established by the Augustinian Recollects in 1835. It was one of four towns established by the order with Danao as the mother parish. The town was first founded at what is now known as Catmon Daan (old Catmon) where a watchtower was also built. It transferred to another place …
It was heartbreaking to see the ruined heritage cemetery chapel of Bantayan in northern Cebu. I don’t know when this was ruined but it would have been a good example of Secular cemetery architecture. In the province of Cebu, most of the cemetery architecture were built by the Augustinians and good examples can be found …
In far off Sumilon Island, off the municipality of Oslob is a lone quadrilateral moro watchtower that has been a mute witness to the history of the place. This is part of the network of telegraphic watchtowers by Boljoon parish priest Fray Julian Bermejo that stretches from Carcar to Santander and was used as lookouts …
April 28, 2015 marks the 450th year of the presence of the Augustinians in the Philippines, the 450th year of the finding of the image of the Sto. Nino in Cebu and the 50th anniversary of the Minor Basilica of Sto. Nino. This post, celebrates these milestones by honoring the pioneering Augustinian order thru the …
The Philippines has a good number of Spanish colonial era churches especially in the Visayas. However, there have been a number of these structures that have been lost over time due to several factors like earthquakes, war, typhoons, natural deterioration and human intervention. This compilation, although not as exhaustive is an attempt to show what …
The 15 October 2013 earthquake that hit Bohol and Cebu affected several churches and structures, including the Basilica Minore del Sto. Nino, some with devastating results. One of those hit but sustained minor damage is the Sto. Nino Kiosk, popularly known as the Magellan’s Cross. When I first visited it several days after the earthquake, …
Currently, the Philippines has four churches inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage list under Baroque Churches of the Philippines. And eight more are in the tentative list. And what is this tentative list? For a site or place to become a UNESCO World Heritage site, the country needs to nominate these places first and once …
Last Maundy Thursday, 17 April 2014, me and my family made the visita iglesia down the southeast of Cebu and it was an opportunity for me to visit once again Oslob Church. I’m happy to say that, from what I saw, the church, which was gutted by fire last 26 March 08 is whole again. …